The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula is a show made with a crazy amount of love and laden with an even crazier amount of horror references and in-jokes for the fans. With some being obvious and some being deep cuts, we look back at our favorite horror references in the best drag show on television.
Our Favorite Horror Homages in The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula
Bleeding Boardrooms Dry, Scanners Style
This opening of the season really did set the tone for it all. Here, the Boulet Brothers have a short-lived and very one-sided clash with some television producers who are trying to stop the show from airing. Taking a page from the book of Cronenberg’s Scanners, the duo exerts their telekinetic powers on the white-collar nuisances to gruesome effect. The show must go on, no matter who must die for it.
Felony Dodger’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre Death
Perfectly white surfaces and blood splatter. Has there ever been a better aesthetic duo for horror? In the season’s first extermination, Felony Dodger’s demise by chainsaw reminded us of the chase sequence in 2006’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with the clotheslines being her final resting place as Felony gets dismembered by the Boulet’s chainsaw.
Abhora’s Art the Clown Inspired Look
Episode 2 saw a lot of incredible looks to evoke that theme of the old west ghost town, but fans of All Hallows’ Eve and Terrifier will notice Abhora’s monochrome, turn of the century makeup giving a whole lot of Art the Clown energy, especially when she gives her maniacal smile. How absolutely…well, terrifying!
Monikkie’s Take on Patience Buckner…
Another second episode look, this contestant who was exterminated untimely shared a lot of mannerisms and similarities with the sympathetic Patience Buckner, the youngest antagonist of Cabin In The Woods’ Buckner Family. She fits right in with everyone’s favorite zombie redneck torture family with her pigtails, dress, and slow-moving ghoulish performance. Just don’t call her a normal zombie, or Hadley & Sitterson won’t shut up about it.
…And Her Halloween Tribute Extermination
In what was by far my favorite extermination short film of the season, Monikkie’s signature mask took the place of a young Michael Myer’s Halloween costume. Instead of a child-sized clown, the masked queen fell prey to a mysterious killer wearing her very mask. If only we knew who could have done such a horrible thing? And more importantly, who did the killer’s nails? They look incredible!
Victoria Elizabeth Black channels the OG Dragula Driver
With episode 3 being all about rock and roll, what is more fitting than Victoria Black’s costume being a tribute to the singer-songwriter who gave us the absolute banger “Dragula”? The top-hat and dreads combo and the macabre makeup are a classic Rob Zombie look.
Israel and the Aliens
This one was more of a broad homage to the campy sci-fi and horror films of the 50s and 60s and the forefather of all horror television, The Twilight Zone. Here, we get a little origin story on everyone’s favorite tattooed manservant, Israel, where we see his former life as a police officer who, investigating the sight of the crash, meets two out of this world queens that immediately take the role of his masters.
Dahli Goes to Camp
Like Angela from Sleepaway Camp, Dahli’s killer decided to implement the kitchen as their murder weapon. However, rather than frying the victim, Angela was baked alive in a smoky, oven-fired death. The camerawork and the kill are undoubtedly reminiscent of the exact sequence where predatory camp cook Artie meets his demise.
Erika Klash, Meet John Bishop
The anime and J-Pop inspired friend to all met her match in Episode 5 and suffered some voodoo indignities in her death. Chucky fanatics (like myself, I mean, I DID cover the whole series here) will recognize this mirrors the death of Charles Lee Ray’s mentor John Bishop in Child’s Play, who suffers blunt force magical trauma. I guess this time she was just all voodoo dolled up with nowhere to run.
Disasterina Goes Psycho
In what is the most cut and dry of references in the Extermination films, Disasterina got the cold shoulder under some hot water in Episode 6. Her shower death mimicked Marion Crane’s in the 1960 classic Psycho. While the parody has been done hundreds of times, Disasterina does bring it quite a bit of charm with the A-Tier camp she was carrying throughout the season.
Immortan Drac and Immortan Swan
Less of a horror reference and more of a fun little easter egg for all of us Mad Max fans out there, our return to the wasteland saw us meeting up with a not-so-alien iteration of the Boulets. This time around, they were channeling Immortan Joe of Mad Max: Fury Road fame, watching the bombs drop with delight and two tall glasses of gasoline.
Meatloaf, Meatball, Same Thing Right?
The most complex of the episode intros, the reunion episode saw a cameo from famed drag queen Meatball, who took her place in a very layered and perfectly executed parody of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Meatball takes the place of Eddie, who comes out of a deep freeze in the film and is played by the late great singer Meatloaf (isn’t it a great play on words?). Of course, the Boulets eventually kill Meatball with an expertly placed knife throw. That is, before they go full Drayton Sawyer on the thawed-out victim and serve them to the Season 2 contestants. Hey, the girls have got to eat!
How many of these were you able to spot on your first watch-through? Let us know in the comments, and stay tuned for more The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula articles!
Make sure you check out seasons 2-3 of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula now streaming on Shudder.