The daring, warts-and-all look at the Club Kid scene that paved the way for ‘Drag Race’ & more

Welcome back to our queer film retrospective, “A Gay Old Time.” In this week’s column, we’re revisiting the 2003’s Party Monster, a dark true-crime drama from the gays who brought you RuPaul’s Drag Race.

This weekend marks the theatrical release of the documentary Studio One Forever, which tells the story of the iconic, eponymous gay club that was the center of West Hollywood nightlife from the 1970s to the ’90s. To celebrate this much anticipated film, this week we’re covering a movie that looks at that some of that same time period and culture within gay history, though in a much darker light: the 2003 crime drama Party Monster.

Party Monster is based on the real life case of Michael Alig, a party promoter and member of the legendary Club Kids of the New York nightlife of the late ’80s and early ’90s, who murdered his drug dealer after an altercation.

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The story was first documented in both the 1999 memoir Disco Bloodbath by James St. James— Alig’s closest friend, mentor and another prime member of the Club Kids—and in the 1998 documentary Party Monster: The Shockumentary, directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, who adapted it into this narrative film.

The Set-Up

The film is a sensory explosion, with a visual style deeply rooted in Club Kid aesthetics, and a remarkably star-filled ensemble of both established young talent and up-and-comers that would soon take off.

Its low budget and cinematic restraints are evident at every turn (working simultaneously both and against it), and its handling of the sensitive themes at its core are still controversial today. But it’s a film that does not shy away from its queer sensibilities in front and behind the camera, and that shines a light to a subculture that continues to have influence in queer life.

Macaulay Culkin (coming back to film in his first role in almost a decade after the 1994 comedy Richie Rich) plays Michael Alig, an eager transplant to New York City with big dreams of fame for himself. When he meets James (Seth Green) and identifies him as one of the most influential figures in the thriving underground party culture of the city, he latches himself on as both best friend and apprentice.

Soon, Michael becomes a host at a local club, and the parties he throws become legendary. He is quickly named King of the Club Kids, and forms a posse that generates publicity, popularity and scandal across the nation. However, he also spirals down a heavy drug addiction and becomes increasingly antagonistic to his friends. During a particularly gnarly comedown, he murders his drug dealer Angel (Wilson Cruz), and is ultimately sent to prison.

Party Crasher

Party Monster works best when it is a collage of parties, costumes, and excess. Even though there was clearly a limited budget (shooting mostly in interior locations and with a rudimentary VHS aesthetic), you can really feel the excitement and novelty of being swallowed in this world of bright neon and even brighter personalities.

The film captures the spirit of community and appeal of these parties very well, particularly within a queer context; the clear sense of pride in being considered an “other” (especially during the talk show segments, inspired by real-life appearances) and finding your chosen family. After all, this is a world that spawned people like Amanda Lepore, Lady Bunny, Lisa Edelstein, Zeldy, and most famously RuPaul. 

But otherwise, the movie doesn’t succeed as an objective, complex, or even necessarily exciting portrait of a crime. The murder of Angel is not the thematic centerpiece of the story, the inciting incident, or the narrative climax, but it is rather framed as one of the many consequences of Michael’s narcissistic personality and excessive lifestyle. It uses this very tragic event as a backdrop and entry point to showcase the world of the New York Club Kids, and contextualizes it in extreme and shocking terms, much like they liked to define themselves.

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A-List Guest List

Looking back at it now, its most remarkable element is perhaps the cast that they managed to assemble. Besides Culkin and Cruz, the film also stars Seth Green as James St. James (leaning quite heavily into queer mannerisms that have not aged particularly well), Chloë Sevigny as Alig’s follower and girlfriend Gitsie (stealing every scene she’s in), Dylan McDermott as the owner of the club that hosts Alig’s parties, plus Natasha Lyonne, Wilmer Valderrama, Marilyn Manson, John Stamos, and Daniel Franzese in smaller supporting roles.

In a way, this cast of young people feels handpicked to embody the spirit of Club Kid culture; performers who had been labeled a certain way by the greater culture and were eager to break out of their boxes, or that already had a proclivity to do more underground work. And although the performances are filled with big choices (particularly the two lead queer characters as played by two straight men), the cast infuses the project with life.

The Beginnings Of A Queer Empire

We also can’t look past the vision behind the camera by Bailey and Barbato. If they sound familiar to you, it’s because they are the two names behind World Pf Wonder, the production company responsible for RuPaul’s Drag Race and the many, many spinoffs and franchises that have sprouted from it. There is an inherent queer sensibility behind the camera in the movie, one that is not afraid to portray the main characters as evil, selfish, and messy, and that understands that there are certain elements of our culture that are better understood and enjoyed only by us.

In other words, it’s quite interesting that for the next two decades after the release of this movie, their brand would lead into a machinery that has turned drag into a staple of mainstream entertainment.

Worth The RSVP

Party Monster is a movie that is very rough around the edges, but one that would pride itself in being called that. Like the club kids at the center, it does not care about sticking to formal traditions or audience expectations. It knows what it is and what it wants to accomplish. It doesn’t necessarily get there, but damn it if it’s not gonna have a great time trying.

Party Monster is currently streaming via Amazon Prime Video, Freevee, Hoopla, Kanopy, Peacock, PlutoTV, The Roku Channel, Vudu, and WOW Presents Plus.

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