Hulu kicks off spooky season with the inaugural Huluween Dragstravaganza. This variety show spectacular features drag icons from RuPaul’s Drag Race and beyond performing in sketches, musical numbers, commercial parodies, and more — all inspired by the horrifying Halloween content you can stream on Hulu. But is this just a 40-minute-long commercial for other shows and movies? Or does the Dragstravaganza stand on its own two heels?
HULUWEEN DRAGSTRAVAGANZA: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: Drag Race icons Ginger Minj and Monét X Change serve as hosts for the Huluween Dragstravaganza — and in the spirit of the season, they host the special against their will after getting sucked into an ’80s TV and landing in a “subatomic microcosmic parallel quantum universe.” Right from the jump, the special makes its raison d’être abundantly clear via a creepy old book that Ginger finds, one titled The Huluween Drag Special: A Comedic Romp Through Horror TV and Movie Tropes Designed to Promote Hulu’s Celebration of Halloween in a Fun, Entertaining Way. What you read is what you get.
To help get the word out about the new Hellraiser movie and the Solar Opposites Halloween special, Monét and Ginger enlist the help of Manila Luzon, Mo Heart, Jujubee, Lady Bunny, Jackie Beat, Landon Cider, Mario Diaz, and Selene Luna. Together they sing, dance, act, and claw their way through a lineup of original songs and sketches.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Imagine the acting challenges and commercial parodies you see on Drag Race — but elevated. And I’d be remiss not to mention the standard-bearer of all gay Halloween variety shows: The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. This dragstravaganza feels like a modern update of that vintage TV trainwreck/masterpiece, albeit with 100% less Kiss (but 100% more Kesha).
Performance Worth Watching: It’s always a treat seeing the Drag Race girls out of the confines of those fake pink brick walls, but the Dragstravaganza does a bang-up job introducing Lady Bunny and Jackie Beat, true legends of the art form, to those new to drag. Their mummy number is a gleeful, groan-worthy standout full of self-own puns (“I sent my first nudes on papyrus!”) that is also fully self-aware (“Wow, that was a lot of dad jokes… from two old mummies”).
Memorable Dialogue: The entire special is filled with one-liners that will alternatingly make you cackle, giggle, and sigh. The lyrics to the “Next American Slasher” song, nestled in a parody of reality competition shows where all the contestants are 23 and did not come here to make friends, made me cackle:
I was on top, a big spender
‘Til my wig got caught in a blender
I panicked, I tried to get it out
But my hand got stuck and never came out
Now I innovate, got a hook for a hand
And I made my ugly feet my brand
Now I hook ’em with my looks!
Then I hook’ em with my hook!
Sex and Skin: Howsabout four minutes of Kesha in a black, thong leotard covered in silver chains and stars performing her song “Cannibal” while a quartet of shirtless, buff hunks wearing just gimp masks and short shorts vogue to the beat? That work for you?
Our Take: The phrase “your mileage may vary” has to be applied, not just to Huluween Dragstravaganza but to variety shows in general. The format is a mixed bag by design, and not every bit is going to hit with everyone the same way. Maybe your fave will be the ’80s commercial advertising a hotline for ghouls the most, or maybe you’ll vibe with Jackie Beat’s lounge number about how dating a vampire sucks. If you think zombies are played out (it me), you’ll want to skip the ZNN news update sketch. That’s the nature of the variety show beast!
There’s also the fact that this is a 40-minute advertisement for Hulu’s Halloween offerings, which leads to some “Sure, Jan” attempts at synergy — like when Monet and Ginger come across a props from iconic horror films like… 2022’s Fresh, starring Sebastian Stan? Maybe that’s a turnoff for you, like when a trailer for Solar Opposites‘ Halloween special plays in full with no twist or comedic angle. It makes you wish this special was just 40 minutes of the drag performers performing and selling you on Halloween and not Huluween.
That all being said… if you’re gonna have a special all about how special all of your other content is, there’s really no better way to sell it than with drag queens. The special is in on the joke, like when Monét takes a second to do a promo for the app Canva during their full-length promo for Hulu and Ginger calls her out for it. And overall, the special gets away with it because the jokes still land, the songs are still catchy, and the drag is all very correct.
On that note, the real standout in the special has to be the cinematography. I’m serious — ! I don’t know if I’ve seen drag queens look this good on TV before. The entire special looks spooky and cinematic. Every frame is imbued with cyan, purple and green undertones, which makes the whole thing feel undeniably Halloween-y. If you’re a fan of drag, you’ll at least want to see the queens look this good — and if you like drag and drag humor, then you’re also gonna laugh.
Our Call: STREAM IT, and let’s hope this leads to more non-Huluween Dragstravaganzas.
