Rating: 
Summary: A Fascinating Train Wreck.
Review: My best friend and I used to skip school whenever we knew Michael Alig and his Club Kids were going to be on Geraldo, Donahue, Sally Jessy Raphael, or any other talk show. Watching the Club Kids was so completely riveting and insane. They didn't make any sense, but it didn't matter. They all become stars, quite simply because they willed it to happen.And then it all went terribly wrong. Surely you know how the story goes: Michael, in an extremely drugged state of mind, killed fellow Club Kid Angel Melendez over drugs. Angel was bludgeoned and injected with Drano. His body was left in a bathtub for days, only to be chopped up and placed in a big TV box, stuck in the back of a cab, and then thrown in a river hopefully to sink and never be found. Before the body surfaced, Michael somewhat jokingly admitted to killing Angel. Wouldn't the best way to claim his innocence be to admit to doing something so horrific and terrible? Who'd believe that you really did it if you said you did it in such a joking manner? Someone believed him because Michael's in prison now. "Party Monster" tells the whole sordid story in detail. It's chock full of Michael Alig interview footage- plus interviews with his mother and lots of the other Club Kids like James St. James and Keoki (among others) . It's the story of extreme excess, and how it all went horribly wrong. If you've ever had any desire to experience life through a K-hole, watch this. You'll change your mind immediately! This is the documentary that ultimately spawned James St. James' "Disco Bloodbath" book, and the film that came out of that, also called "Party Monster." The book actually fills in the some of the holes that documentary leaves, or at least presents a slightly different viewpoint. Watch both the documentary AND read James St. James' book to get a fuller picture of what went on. Had the budget been bigger this probably could have been a great film, but directors Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey do a great job with their obviously limited budget. It's still a very good documentary. It's all rather bittersweet. Michael ultimately got what he wanted: to be a legend. It's probably not the kind of legend that he wanted to be, but it's what he became nonetheless.
Rating: 
Summary: club drag
Review: There was hardly anything tragic about this party life documentary. Some kids with style and balls invigorate a dying Manhattan social scene. Drugs are involved and oftentimes take over much of the party. So what's new? This can get really boring to watch. I enjoyed this documentary only because I knew half of the people in it, but otherwise I'd imagine that it's like watching a graduation video of someone else's high school graduation. Could be cute in a voyeuristic sense, but nothing dynamic. So one of these party hounds got out of control and killed someone. The only thing that sets this apart from the many similar incidents that go on like this on a daily, is that the murderer was well liked and the victim was not. This leads one to ponder how we as a society function when it comes to fairness. An entertaining romp through clubland, but please don't give it more credit than is necessary.
Rating:
Summary: Keep The Facts Straight
Review: This is where the reader goes to review how the book/DVD/CD, whatever, was. Sorry, but saying that you knew them way beck when... doesn't give any relevance to a reliable review on the documentary. This documentary is just what it is, a documentary. It gives facts relating to what specifically happened. Yes, it can be biased (in the case of Fahrenheit 9/11), but even if they're scewed, it happened. Also, this documentary did NOT spawn James St. James' idea of writing "Disco Bloodbath". Check your dates, the book was published in early 1999, in which it had also been started years before that. James St. James had been working on that book for so long that many people didn't even believe it would ever be put out, a sort of inside joke going on...
The documentary is harsh, and should also NOT be compared to the movie. The movie, even though the directors worked on both, is a personified satire of what really happened. Characters are mixed together, events out of sequence, boy, if you only knew what kind of person the REAL "Christina" was, it would make Manson's character look like an angel.
The documentary is great, but again, keep all of them seperate. Don't let the three combine together to make one big "Party Monster".
Rating: 
Summary: Love It!
Review: This shockumentary/documentary is FANTASTIC! I had been looking for it for quite some time and finally FINALLY found it at the local Indie video store. The Club Kids and their lifestyles were totally fascinating! The doc is not just about the horrific murder of Angel, but about the 'scene' too. It's terrible what happened to Angel, I do not condone what Alig did at all. However, this documentary goes into both stories...the rise and fall of the Club Kid scene, Angel's murder AND the rise and fall of Michael Alig himself.
In my opinion, James St. James is the star of this documentary. Once you see this doc, if you've not already done so...read his book 'Disco Bloodbath'. It's so entertaining and flows with interest and eccentricities that you will not be able to put it down! Definitely a fast read! Then to top it off...you have the film 'Party Monster', where in my opinion James St James takes the cake again! Seth Green is so awesome as JSJ! A previous review claimed that James St. James was just trying to profit from Michael Alig. So What?! This is done everyday. Books/films/docs...someone is always profiting from another's story or wrongdoing. That's the way these stories are told.
This is a FIVE STAR recommendation...on all three...the documentary, the book and the film!
Rating:
Summary: Are we reviewing a Documentary or the life of the man?
Review: What's with all the socio-psychological evaluation of Michael Alig? I tire of all this debate over the placement of guilt regarding the Alig case. He was a brilliant, fabulous boy who loved excess and committed a gruesome murder. It's possible to be both. Meanwhile, we're supposed to be reviewing a documentary and it seems I've begun a review of the reviews . . .
I enjoyed this documentary as well as the film "Party Monster."
"Party Monster-The Shockumentary" was well structured and well shot. Regardless of my personal opinions of Alig's guilt or innocence, I found the film to be skewed toward the latter, and I consider that poor film-making. If the makers of the film wanted to declare Alig's innocence, they would do better to present the facts objectively and let the audience come the "truth" the film makers feel they are spreading. Failure to do so just makes this film feel like it has a not-so-hidden agenda and pushes pessimistic viewers in the opposite direction.
Overall, I prefer "Party Monster" but would not dissuade anyone curious to know more about Alig and the Club Kids from watchin "Party Monster-The Shockumentary."
| 
