‘Queens of the Dead’ Movie Review: Tina Romero Throws A Slight But Fun Drag Party With Zombies
Photo from Independent Film Company
From Jeremy Kibler
Queens of the Dead could almost count as the unofficial next chapter in George A. Romero’s undead series. Picking up where her late father might have left off, filmmaker Tina Romero puts an unapologetically queer-glam twist on the zombie sub-genre with her feature directorial debut, a rompish hangout of a horror-comedy set inside of a New York City drag club. As daddy Romero’s ...of the Dead films were always about people coming together during a time of racism or consumerism, Tina Romero’s writing-directing feature debut is all about a marginalized community banding together for survival. Working with champagne-level talent on a beer budget, Queens of the Dead may fly out of your brain in a week, but it sure knows how to throw a party.
The movie opens with a glittery queen (a hysterical Julie J) headed to church until a Grindr-ish hookup with a zombified priest becomes the pre-title kill (and she will surely turn up again to get the party started). Katy O’Brian (Love Lies Bleeding) makes for a lovable lead as Dre, the exasperated owner of a struggling Brooklyn warehouse club called Yum. When their big-time drag headliner, Yasmine (Dominique Jackson), bails at the very last minute for a higher-paying brand, Dre scrambles to make sure the show can still go on. There’s still competitive queen Ginsey (Andrew “Nina West” Levitt) and spotlight-stealing dancer Nico (Tomás Matos), but then former queen turned hospital orderly Sam (Jaquel Spivey), who has been on the outs with friend Dre and now works with Dre’s pregnant wife Lizzy (Riki Lindhome), comes out of the woodwork as his persona, “Samoncé.” Then it’s really time to panic and hunker down once a zombie starts murdering on the dance floor.
With a little mugging, a scrappy spirit, and a breakneck pace, Queens of the Dead is a daffy good time. Above all else, the cast on hand is delightful and delivers a lot of gusto. Jaquel Spivey (2024’s Mean Girls) is an endearing, sympathetic co-lead alongside Katy O’Brien. Tomás Matos (Fire Island) can’t help but be a scene-stealer as outspoken dancer Nico, who goes by “Scrumptious” to her social media fans. Jack Haven mostly has to act shrill and whiny as anxious, childish manager Kelsey, but they still score some amusing moments after getting an axe to the leg. The one and only Margaret Cho, as Kelsey’s badass other half, almost threatens to run off with the entire movie on an electric scooter as Pops, a power drill-wielding lawyer.
The plot is thin but overflowing with colorful characters, including Dre’s woefully out-of-touch plumber and brother-in-law Barry (Quincy Dunn-Baker); trans hospital patient Jane (Eve Lindley) who bought a bad batch from Nico, her dealer; and Jimmy, the hot bartender who’s played by the hot Cheyenne Jackson. Fortunately, most of the characters are given distinct personalities to be more than just worm fodder. Take away the flesh-eaters and we might still come to care about some of these people as much as we do. It’s a testament to Romero and co-writer Erin Judge not being snide toward their characters but loving them, and it’s hard not to get infected with that same affection.
Between an iconic line from Night of the Living Dead and prosthetic make-up legend Tom Savini as the town mayor who literally mentions George A. Romero, this is a pretty self-aware movie with a cartoonish energy that doesn’t make the mistake of overstaying its welcome. The “zombie” of it all is, of course, tired at this point, although there is something charmingly old-fashioned about how next-generation Romero likes her zombies: slow and staggering, like her father. The film has little interest in what literally causes the zombie outbreak when a metaphorical social message about all of us turning into zombies from the digital age will more than suffice. Frankly, that more than works for a bloody, sweet, funny, high-spirited little movie that proudly carries on the Romero legacy. Queens of the Dead, you stay.
Rating: 3/5
Queens of the Dead is currently in select theaters.
