Tom Stoppard says, “If an idea’s worth having once, it’s worth having twice,” and thus books become films.

Books are an entirely different art form from both films and screenplays, and yet it is a fairly common practice to make a film out of a pre-existing book. Most people agree that “the book is better than the movie,” on the basis that you can get all sorts of details that a one and a half to two hour film can’t possibly contain. And yet, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Either way, books are adapted into screenplays all the time, sometimes being changed to the point of being barely recognizable, and at other times following the book closely.

In August 1999, James St. James originally published Disco Bloodbath: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland, a story later adapted by writer/directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato into digi-indie Party Monster. With the success of a Sundance screening of the film in January 2003, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, the novel was republished as Party Monster: A Fabulous But True Tale of Murder in Clubland in September 2003. The basic summary is this: In the ‘80s there were a group of drunken, drugged out and dressed up club kids living up the social scene in NYC. When Angel, a well-known drug dealer, goes missing, one of the club kids, Michael Alig, confesses to his friend and fellow club kid James St. James that he and another dealer murdered Angel. Although the story being told is Alig’s, it is told St. James' point of view.

Something to note about the film and the novel is that the narrative is all based on true event, and that St. James was around for all of the events leading up to the murder and was there for the aftermath as well, at very close range. Also, Bailey and Barbato filmed a documentary Party Monster: The Shockumentary about the events before St. James published his book. In the opening credits of the film, both the book and the documentary are referenced as the sources for which the film is based.

I propose that in dealing with books that are turned into films, it is best to watch the film first, then read the book and then watch the film again. By watching the film first, if you enjoy it, it has a soft spot in your heart, and you go easy on it when you watch it again after having read the book. Plus, you notice details from the book that you wouldn’t have noticed as plot details. If you start with the book, the film will only let you down. (Thank God I started with film version of Gone With the Wind.) With Party Monster, details from the book made it into the film that I really never would have noticed, not had I watched it a thousand times, such as the importance of the cat to Alig, and how the negligence of the cat’s upkeep was a clear sign of Alig’s downward spiral to his close friends.

In general, the film follows the book fairly closely for the most part, up until the end. The film takes quotes from the book and puts them in the actors’ mouths and uses the descriptive details to create the elaborate costumes, which helped to bring the club kids alive in many cases.

Also, both the book and the film do not only deal with Angel’s murder. The story is by no means about the murder in the sense that Capote’s In Cold Blood was all about the crime and the murderers. St. James wrote a book about club kids, in which a murder takes place. Party Monster delves into the daily lives of the club kids, from the beginning when they were somewhat in control of themselves and their lives; shows how many of the club kids met and became friends, lovers, roommates and drug buddies; then shows the downward spiral that began long before the murder and continued long after. It is an anthropologic study of the club kids’ lifestyle, which is, to say the least, fascinating.

In making the documentary, Bailey and Barbato were very knowledgeable about the subject, which came in very handy later for the fiction version costuming. In the Geraldo sequence from the film, many of the costumes are slight variations on the real costumes worn either on Geraldo or at the clubs. The costumes in the film are beautifully extravagant and are the major advantage that the film lords over the book. No matter how much St. James describes a get-up, it is always much more real when it is on one of the characters in the film.

What the film also accomplishes that the book does not is to keep the viewer interested the whole way through. As much as I loved the book, the last third or quarter or so dragged. It was all drug sequences and freak outs on repeat. And repeat again. And again. And I just wanted something other than that to happen. Although St. James I’m sure captured the atmosphere of that time, it got old fast. The film cuts out most of that and doesn’t delve into that time for too long. It goes in, the murder happens, and the film is over.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the film is the casting. This film is the film that got the newly-grown up Macaulay Culkin back into the movie business after a 9 year hiatus--which is an incredible feat indeed--and put him opposite Seth Green in an atypical but glorious role. Wilmer Valderrama steps away from his comedic side to play Keoki--a mediocre performance, Dylan McDermott plays club owner Peter Gatien and Marilyn Manson makes his film debut as Alig’s psycho superstar, drag queen Christina. The film also features Mia Kirschner, the most annoying lesbian on Showtime’s The L Word, as the snarky Mrs. Gatien, Natasha Lyonne in a small part as a Texan drug dealer and Chloë Sevigny--because what indie movie could ever be made without a part for Sevigny--as Gitsie, Alig’s final love. Sevigny, Manson and Wilson Cruz, who played Angel, were all in NYC at the time of the club kids, and all went to several of the night clubs and saw the kids from the book.

Speaking of these real-life club kids, one of my favorite facets of the film is that they got some of the real club kids to come in as extras for the party scenes. They used the club kids that were around during the actual events of the film, helping the credibility level in the film versus book debate. The only casting I was upset about was the lack of RuPaul; (s)he is probably the most famous of all the club kids, is referenced in the book as being part of the scene and going on Geraldo with them, and yet makes no appearance in the film. RuPaul, where are you?!

Despite the credibility that the real club kids lent to the screen, the film does have some drawbacks in light of the book. The most noticeable for me was how the film lacks St. James’ very unique perspective. If you open the book, one of the first things you notice is the personality almost literally jumping off the page at you. St. James is a fan of italics. And CAPITALIZED words, phrases, sentences. And exclamation marks! And he marks the breaks between sections with little skulls. There is no doubt that the book belongs to St. James, even if he is telling Alig’s story. In the film, there are times when we don’t see St. James for a while, or hear his commentary on the happenings. It is one of the gems of the book that you do get a biased version of the events: you see it through the eyes of a club kid rather than an objective viewer, and it garners sympathy for Alig, which is crucial to the story.

The only huge departure from the book is the role of Gitsie in Alig’s life. In the book, she is there through the end but does not figure in in any sort of major way, while in the film, she is Alig’s girlfriend/ possible fiancée, and he is heartbroken when he learns that she has died of an overdose. Another downfall of the film is that it left out two of my favorite characters from the book--Mavis, the Boston lesbian grocer turned drug dealer who manages to escape the club kid life intact, and JennyTalia, the strung out, beautiful, probably underage, space cadet junkie who is always there but never has anything to say.

When all is said and done, both the book and the film are better than many of the other books and films out there. Both are worth checking out, and even more so in conjunction with each other. You do have to have a sense of openness to get involved in the world portrayed, but once in, the whole aura of the lifestyle is captivating and well worth your time.