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MONEY
Did you know
Earned back only 15% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
Party Monster
"Till death do they party."
2003 1h 38m EN
😐
5.8
MID
🥫
29%
ROTTEN
😬
36
METACRITIC
⭐
6.2
IMDB
★5.8TMDB · 204🥫29%Rotten Tomatoes●36Metacritic★6.2IMDB · 18,163
ComedyDramaCrimeThriller
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
The New York club scene of the 80s and 90s was a world like no other. Into this candy-colored, mirror ball playground stepped Michael Alig, a wannabe from nowhere special. Under the watchful eye of veteran club kid James St. James, Alig quickly rose to the top... and there was no place to go but down.
“Till death do they party.”
Cast
Macaulay Culkin
Michael Alig
Seth Green
James St. James
Chloë Sevigny
Gitsy
Natasha Lyonne
Brooke
Wilmer Valderrama
Kioki
Wilson Cruz
Angel
Diana Scarwid
Elke
Dylan McDermott
Peter Gatien
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Fenton Bailey
- Writers
- Randy Barbato, Fenton Bailey
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
Released 23 years ago.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
WORLD
Did you know
International production across 3 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Fenton Bailey, shot by Teodoro Maniaci. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by Jimmy Harry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Jeremy Simmons shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green and Chloë Sevigny carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
FACT
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "Till death do they party.".
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Fenton Bailey directs. Teodoro Maniaci behind the camera. Jimmy Harry scores. Jeremy Simmons cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Earned back only 15% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
- 2Released 23 years ago.
- 3International production across 3 countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Netherlands.
- 4Directed by Fenton Bailey, shot by Teodoro Maniaci. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 5Original score by Jimmy Harry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 6Editor Jeremy Simmons shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 7Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green and Chloë Sevigny carry the top of the cast.
- 8Marketing tagline: "Till death do they party.".
- 9IMDB entry: tt0320244 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 10Classified under 17 themes, including "hotel", "new york city", "based on novel or book", "police".
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Teodoro Maniaci
- Original score
- Jimmy Harry
- Editing
- Jeremy Simmons
- Production design
- Andrea Stanley
- Costume design
- Michael Wilkinson
- Sound
- Lance Brown
- Runtime
- 98 min · 1h 38m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $5,000,000
- Box office
- $742,898
- Return
- 15% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- R
- Rotten Tomatoes
- 29% 🥫 Rotten
- Metacritic
- 36/100
- IMDB rating
- 6.2/10 · 18,163 votes
- MPAA
- R
Awards
4 nominations total
Also by
Fenton Bailey
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Production companies
Who made it
- CO
ContentFilm
GB
Fortissimo Films
NL
Killer Films
US
- JO
John Wells Productions
US
World of Wonder
US
Key crew
- ProducerChristine Vachon
- CastingSusan Shopmaker
- Production DesignAndrea Stanley
- Set DecorationSusan Ogu
- EditorJeremy Simmons
- ProducerRandy Barbato
- ProducerFenton Bailey
- Art DirectionLaura Ballinger
- ProducerJon Marcus
- ProducerBrad Simpson
- Music SupervisorHoward Paar
- Still PhotographerJoJo Whilden
- Script SupervisorAnthony Pettine
- NovelJames St. James
- Dialogue EditorJed M. Dodge
- Foley MixerMarilyn Graf
- Sound Effects EditorFrederick Howard
- Sound Re-Recording MixerLance Brown
- Dialogue EditorRobert Getty
- Sound Re-Recording MixerDerek Marcil
- ADR MixerMichael J. Fox
- Foley ArtistPhyllis Ginter
- Sound MixerAntonio L. Arroyo
- Supervising Sound EditorFrank Gaeta
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- hotel
- new york city
- based on novel or book
- police
- birthday
- loss of loved one
- bath
- nightclub
- hallucination
- male friendship
- arrest
- donut
- injection
- friends
- money
- drugs
- euphoric
Release history · US
When it landed
- Premiere2003-01-18· Sundance Film Festival
- Premiere2003-06-28· San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
- Theatrical2003-09-05R
Also known as
International titles
- Party szörnyekHU
