Ranking "Dragula: Titans" S1.E1 (and learning to love Horror)

by Nathaniel R

The Boulet Brothers, hosts of Dragula

Do any of you readers watch the Shudder drag competition Dragula? Though horror has never been the most natural fit for yours truly, other members of Team Experience are much more into the genre. That said I have grown more fond of the spooky stuff over the years, largely due to recommendations from my teammates. There's also the not so small matter of my own actressexuality that has converted me; It's hard to stay averse to Horror when great actresses keep delivering in transcendent ways within the genre. In the past ten years alone the Film Bitch Awards right here (my own annual prizes) have thrown three medals to such performances: Toni Collette in Hereditary and Lupita Nyong'o in Us both won Gold and Essie Davis took silver for The Babadook. Through careful exposure therapy (ha) I've learned which kinds of horror films are absolutely not for me without having to risk visual trauma. So the rest I can sample freely and enjoy!

So it was that last year I subscribed to Shudder where I ended up watching season four of the drag competition Dragula.  This week the new sidebar season (essentially "All Stars") Dragula Titans began. All drag or lipsynch competitions will of course be endlessly compared to the phenomenally successful  RuPaul's Drag Race. That's unavoidable...

Evah Destruction, Melissa BeFierce, and Abhora

While Dragula doesn't veer that far from the formula, it has the smarts to twist the format enough to fit its own chosen genre including celebrity guests that come almost exclusively with horror connections. Rather than lip-synch challenges to determine which loser goes home, it has "extermination" challenges -- basically fear factor type dares. It combines the main challenge and runway modes of Drag Race, into one event, a "floorshow" in which the contestants perform in their often revolting but sometimes clever costumes (lipsynching factors in occassionally, but not much). Drag Race asks the queens to show their "Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent", while Dragula demands its "monsters" deliver on the less acronym punny four tenants of "Drag, Filth, Horror, and Glamour". Dragula also expands the inclusion conversation about what constitutes drag and who can do it. Like Drag Race there have been trans contestants but Dragula has even had an AFAB performer, just last season, with the brilliantly named "Sigourney Beaver". She (correctly) made the finals. 

Like virtually all reality competitions, Dragula is fond of performative bad behavior (which one or two contestants will always try to harness as they desperately claw at career/fame) and manufactured interpersonal dramas. The challenges and creativity are compelling enough without all this. The inherent creepiness of the horror genre is enough "drama" -- why manufacture conflict when you're acting out horrific things on stage?

Astrud and Hoso reacting to people discussing their showmance from Season 4

Sadly "Titans" first episode spends too much time on the personal expecting you to understand its gossip (what if you didn't watch previous seasons --  the show is still growing its audience!) even before you've gotten to know who everyone is, or even when the editing doesn't make you privvy to that drama beyond exclamatory reaction shots where a character is delighting in or annoyed by some tea that you yourself haven't sipped.

The first episode's challenge was to take a well known horror character or trope (like a ghost or a witch or whatever) and twist it to make it your own during a "Halloween House Party in Hell". All but one of the contestants understood the challenge but only half of them excelled. Here's a quick rundown of the 10 competitors ranked by how well they did.

01 VICTORIA BLACK
Absolutely slayed the challenge with a thought-through performance and an exceptional pumpkin head costume that was well edited from head to too, creative in multiple ways, and featured a killer ingenious reveal when she removed her wig (and the wig itself was no afterthought either). She 100% earned that win but the scariest thing about this season might be having to look at her hairdo out of drag every week. I understand that this is a completely shallow reaction but it's not just my normal personal mullet allergy (sorry GenZ) talking. This takes the inherent hideousness of mullets up to a whole new level with the addition of those Alfalfa meets Betty Boop bangs. 

02 EVAH DESTRUCTION
She asked who the "trade" of the season was and nobody said her name which is funny (be careful about fishing for compliments!). But also everyone in the room is blind because hello that smile, incredible jawline, and body hair! Her devil look was totally fun with the cherry on top being a pitchfork cigarette holder designed to smoke three cigs at once. Amazing.

03. YOVSKA
Campy Horror with a Club Kid aesthetic? Yes please. Even better Yovska appears to have a healthy sense of modesty/humor about herself as is evident in her complimenting a good read from a competitor, rather than taking offense. Loved the pumpkin boobs, three heads being better than one.

04. ASTRUD AURELIA
Astrud went home very early in Season 4 despite winning the first challenge (with an absolutely smashing riff on H.R.Giger's Alien) so even though the practice of bringing people immediately back for 'all star' seasons has never felt as wise to me as showrunners all seem to think it is on reality shows, can't wait to see what she brings to Titans. She did well but the judges were smoking something when they nearly handed her the win. Elvira (one of the guest judges) loves this look and cites Creature from the Black Lagoon as a favourite. We fully understand.

05. KENDRA ONIXXX
Maybe a bit simple but loved the concept of an androgynous fashionista Frankenstein. Smart accessories, facepaint, and prop work, too. 

06 HOSO TERRA TOMA
Hoso is a great performer with an original consistent aesthetic (though the face makeup is, I'd argue, too busy for the always already-busy looks. Self-edit please! But after Season 4 comments and this reintroduction, it's hard not to raise an eyebrow. Are they secretly toxic? The judges mentioned lack of professionalism last season though there was little on camera evidence. And then in this episode a distinct vibe that they're both aware of their incredible beauty out of drag and weaponizing it to wrap multiple thirsty gay-for-femme men in the room around their fingers. See the strange "who me?" disassociative hot/cold behavior and faux-ignorance about their ongoing 'are-they-or-arent-they?' thing with both Abhora and Astrud. Are these romances or showmances or fauxmances?

And the four who f***ed up.

07 MELISSA BEFIERCE
Nothing "wrong" per se but not interesting in any way. 

08 ERIKA KLASH (up for elimination)
Ditto. And all I got personality wise from this first episode was self-pity and anger which is not a cute combo. (I know because I saw it in the mirror recently after a tough week: Would not recommend!)

09 ABHORA (eliminated)
While she definitely failed the assignment -- nobody knew which Halloween trope she was riffing on so her elimination was justified and inevitable -- she has an interesting aesthetic. Hoso's fandom of her overall work makes me sad not to see what has made Hoso and others devout fans. But the incoherent reactions to her overall vibe in the room, her TMI public confession about a private romantic moment with Hoso, as well as the incredible 180 moodswings sometimes in the space of a single scene were all alarming. Hope it was just bizarre editing choices and not a larger problem.

10 KOCO CAINE
Koco, who was also in season 4, is quite entertaining (see below and a solid bit involving her annoyance over quill pens) and gives the absolute best side eye -- with a deadly "wut" to puncture a nonsensical dramas (see above). But I just can't with her aesthetic, then or now, which always involve enormous breastplates and even more enormously half-assed costumes. She didn't fail the assignment in totality like Abhora but I've ranked her last because where is the imagination or polish? The judges offered constructive critiques of why her mummy look didn't work (though they were kind enough not to mention that she did the mummy last season too), she defended it claiming "messy" was her brand and she could elevate it if she wanted to but she doesn't want to. Gurl, no. 

P.S. A Quip to Wrap-up

Can we get some disinfectant for the table?

Comments

[thevoid99]

OK, now this is some creative shit.

[Nick Taylor]

I agree with basically all of this - way too much time spent on drama, but the floor show was mostly very fun. Victoria won this so completely, though I hope future episodes do a better job of showcasing the drag.

@thevoid99 - This kind of creativity is a hallmark for the series. The season 4 opener had a similar challenge for horror movie villains, though I’d honestly recommend any newcomers go to season 2, both because Titans has more competitors from season 2 than any other season, and because it’s just my favorite of the bunch.

[NATHANIEL R]

Nick -- yeah, i dont understand why they skimp on the creative process when they have something so unique to offer AND other shows of this ilk spend good time there with good results (Drag Race & Glow-Up for two)

[Andrew Rech]

Nathaniel, highly recommend watching season 2 if you have access to it - definitely lower budget but it's the fan favorite season for a reason so I'm not surprised they cast 4 monsters from that season for Titans. Abhora in particular is as maddening as she is crazy talented/unique in that season, so sadly I am not really surprised with her spiral in the Titans premiere.