Is ‘Party Monster’ Macaulay Culkin’s strangest role?
Every Christmas, the face of Macaulay Culkin is plastered across television screens as countless families tune in to watch reruns of Home Alone, the movie that made him one of the most recognisable children in Hollywood. He was just ten when the film was released, and he quickly shot to stardom, going on to appear in other beloved movies like My Girl and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.
Culkin starred in various other movies during the early 1990s, with producers keen to capitalise on the child star’s popularity, but after the release of 1994’s Richie Rich, he decided to take a break from acting. Having entered the entertainment industry at such a young age, Culkin quickly became disillusioned as he got older, simply wanting to live like normal kids his age. So, for years, Culkin was absent from the silver screen – that’s until 2003, when he returned to cinema with one of the strangest choices imaginable.
Party Monster, directed by Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato, saw Culkin play Michael Alig, based on the real-life club promoter’s descent into chaos and addiction. As one of the Club Kids who were active in New York during the 1980s and 1990s, Alig was widely known for throwing wild parties where everyone in attendance dressed in crazy outfits and drugs were taken in excess, but eventually he was charged with the murder of Andre ‘Angel’ Melendez, bringing an end to this era of pure hedonism.
Culkin starred alongside Seth Green, who played his friend James St James, with other ‘90s and 2000s icons like Natasha Lyonne and Chloë Sevigny appearing in the film. There is even a bizarre cameo from Marilyn Manson dressed as a woman, while former Club Kids like Richie Rich and Amanda Lepore can be seen in the movie.
If you like the work of Gregg Araki, especially the surreality and campiness of Nowhere, then Party Monster might be up your street, although Araki’s film far better captures the absurdity of navigating growing up. Party Monster tries to mix ridiculous humour, bright visuals, and gritty themes in a similar way, but Bailey and Barbato’s film is more like Araki gone wrong, leaving you feeling nauseous from the sheer vanity and hideousness of these characters, whose only goals are partying and taking drugs.
Still, if you want to watch Green dressed as a troll doll, complete with fully green skin, green hair, gems all over his face, and a fake nose, then look no further. Meanwhile, you can see Culkin sporting a Big Bird-esque yellow feathered dress, a blue wig, and incredibly long fake eyelashes, or how about massive platform trainers and a crop top? The performances in the movie are overly exaggerated, and you’re left wondering how much of the acting is actually meant to be as bad as it comes across, but regardless, if you like campy cinema experiences, Party Monster certainly provides that.
It’s bizarre that Culkin chose such a striking role as his cinematic comeback, but it seems as though he was keen to stray far from the image of himself that people knew him for as a child. “I don’t want to do what I did before. Before it was you know, it was like people’s livelihoods were on the line … they like built an industry out of me. It was just this really odd dynamic that I think made me uncomfortable for a lot of my young life. I’m not one of those people who needs that gratification of doing like ten films a year … I’m just trying to be, you know, an artist,” he told ABC News upon the release of Party Monster.
