Party Monster

Real life or larger than life? This biopic of flamboyant club entrepreneur Michael Alig, who shook up New York nightlife at the turn of the '90s before sadistically murdering his drug dealer, clamours to be both. It stems from the directors' earlier 'shockumentary' about the scene; and Alig's friend and social mentor James St James (Green) cashed in with a book, Disco Bloodbath. Culkin, the child star of the Home Alone series, is weirdly appropriate as Alig, the arch and bratty manchild with a doting mom, picking up beautiful boys and girls, and swiftly drifting from normality. The film propounds the notion that nightlife is about delirious performance - particularly as Alig leads his Club Kid disciples into an impromptu rave in a burger bar. The script is spiked with acid quips, the soundtrack suitably fantastic. Flitting between opulence and squalor, the film's grittier details are undeniably blunted. As a pop cocktail, though, it's an intoxicating brew with a bitter aftertaste.