Watch Dragula: Horror Drag without the Horror of Trans Exclusion.
Why it’s the best drag show on TV… Sorry not sorry, RuPaul.
Horror. Filth. Glamour. These are the three elements of Dragula, the Amazon Prime TV show created and hosted by the Boulet Brothers — LA’s notorious horror-drag, gender-bending, sister-brothers searching for America’s next Drag Super-Monster. Yes, you heard right — supermonster not supermodel.
After only really having access to RuPaul’s Drag Race, you might, like I did, expect another Drag Queen only show — on top of that another “fashion Queen” show where looks are prioritised, trans people excluded and female-born people aren’t accepted. Not here.
Dragula, as a horror drag show in its nature is so beyond just “pretty” drag — the performers are vile, disgusting and horrific and own it with pure entertainment. Expect makeup that is above and beyond special effects, performance over beauty and absolutely crazy challenges.
There aren’t just cis gay males included too — they’ve included trans women like the amazing Priscilla Chambers, female-born performers and non-binary performers like the beautifully filthy Hollow Eve, and, above all, there are finally Drag Kings on TV! In Season 3, the Boulet Brothers invited the incomparable Drag King Landon Cider, who was the first ever King to compete on US television.
At the beginning of every episode, the Boulet Brothers stand before the competitors welcoming them with their signature “Hello, uglies!”, before they get to the nitty gritty. The challenges include a range of horror themes like mental asylum, classic Halloween, evil circus, shanty ghost town, rock band and apocalyptic drag to name a few, the contestants have just a week to create one or multiple costumes and a performance.
In a similar way to Drag Race there are tops and bottoms of the week, but instead of the bottom two lip-syncing for their lives, there’s some of the best content in the whole show. They are set horror challenges to do in drag. Jumping out of an aeroplane, being locked in a coffin with bugs and drinking chalices of raw blood are all potential futures for the bottom two contestants, the extremity just gets better and better.
To convince you to watch it more, if you’re like me, I love a show with modest roots — especially art-related shows that are less about money-based advertising and more focused on the art. Watching the progression of Dragula has shown the Boulet Brothers as producers are all about the performers, their wellbeing and their artistic expression.
In Season 1 with no money, Dragula was a mere YouTube series with GoFundMe’s for each performer, capping it at $10,000 and the more the audience participated, the closer they were to winning. Now, with Amazon Prime’s backing, they can finally make sure the performers are getting the exposure, pay and fans they deserve.
Go ahead! Treat yourself to some horror, filth and glamour covered in camp!
