Enter the Drag Dragon: "I'm here to swing some cock and kick some ass"

REVIEW by Drew Rowsome - photos courtesy of GAT PR

25 FEB 2023 -

Enter the Drag Dragon may not be the first Dragxploitation film ever made, but it is one of the best. Vegas in Space, Mister Sister, The Bitch Who Stole Christmas, Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives and most of  John Water's oeuvre, all have their low budget/high camp energy and charm, but Enter the Drag Dragon struts and kicks its way to instant cult classic status with the addition of drag-fu. And slick candy-coloured production values including spectacular and spectacularly hilarious special effects beyond the fabulous couture. The film opens with a shot of a decapitated rotting head being urinated upon, which then escalates into a full-fledged zombie attack. We are in delicious b-movie territory. Cut to the credits where a wedding gown-clad drag queen sashays through the streets of Ottawa to a disco beat (the soundtrack overseen by David Bignell and John Carroll throbs and drives and is alone worth the price of admission). This is our introduction to private detective Crunch.

Throughout the film, Crunch is played by three stellar actors—Sam Kellerman, Jade London and Matt Miwa—in the first of many comical plot twists. After dispatching some butch bicycle thieves with a well-placed stiletto and some drag-fu, Crunch I meets damsel in distress Sebastian (the suitably handsome Mark MacDonald) whose dog has gone missing. Crunch and his partner in crime Jaws (Beatrice Beres) live in a rundown, possibly haunted, movie theatre owned by their legal guardian Fast Buck (Phil Caracas). They spend their days doing odd jobs for cash and watching kung-fu movies for pointers for their own drag-fu training. The search for the dog branches out into a search for lost treasure that includes pirates, ghosts, a stolen painting, police corruption, poison boobies, an Aztec mummy, and of course the hordes of zombies. It is a lot of plot, all juggled with logical illogic before tying together in a satisfying series of climaxes.

Of course there are digressions. Musical numbers, skydiving, the introduction of Dick Toes (Elliott Fockyer), an evil super villain (Natalia Moreno), henchpeople, and cameos from b-movie legends including Lloyd Kaufman. Some of the digressions work—it is impossible to overstate how satisfying it is to watch a drag queen wielding a cockchuck (a nunchaku made with dildos) and slaying an army of evangelicals who emerge from a clown car van—some of them are limp, though the puzzling Dick Toes segment pays off in a final epilogue sight gag that gives one hope for the future. There is a cast of hundreds, many of whom are eager to shine whether their talent warrants it or not, and many who are just fodder for the cartoon violence. When Crunch III faces off with a swarm of zombies the carnage is extreme, carefully cut for maximum gore on a minimum budget, and laugh-out loud funny. If only the MCU could use CGI with such panache and style.

Enter the Drag Dragon works so well because it is high camp, taking itself seriously and with utter faith in the virtues of its drag and b-movie roots. There are satirical references to film classics but they don't overwhelm or overstay their welcome. Director Lee Demarbre is a film fan (he owns and runs the Mayfair repertory cinema in Ottawa where much of Enter the Drag Dragon was shot and which the film is a whimsical advertisement for) and the result is hilarious homages, clever but not intrusive arty angles, and a pace that rivals the serials of old. The toss-away scene referencing The Invisible Man, this one complete with a dangling penis and bodacious ta-tas, is delirious, utterly pointless, and very, very funny. Which sums up the entire film. Except that Enter the Drag Dragon is far more than just the most entertaining film I've seen in months, it also envisions a utopian Ottawa where gender and sexual identity fluidity are super powers, fun and aspirational. Again, the pleasure of cheering on a drag queen dispatching evangelicals and zombies (frighteningly similar villains) with dildos cannot be overstated.

When I received the screener for Enter the Drag Dragon, courtesy of a publicist with impeccable taste, my partner was skeptical. He's been forced to sit through so many turgid LGBTQ movies and unintentionally campy b-movie horror films, which I delight in but which bore or horrify him. He retreated to the kitchen to rearrange our Tupperware cupboard, leaving me alone on the couch. The pounding disco beat of Crunch I's entrance lured him out of his frenzied homemaking and, within minutes, settled into his easy chair to guffaw and clap with delight. He particularly enjoyed the explosions, car crash, and slapstick dismemberings. Like any great cult film, Enter the Drag Dragon is even more fun when shared. Fortunately audiences will get to experience Enter the Drag Dragon on a big screen with an enthusiastic crowd. Demarbre is setting out on a Canadian tour of repertory cinemas with two stops in Toronto. Popcorn and proper accessories are de rigueur.