‘Queens of the Dead’ – Tina Romero's zombie comedy eats with a queer twist

The new film “Queens of the Dead,” opening Friday the 24th in area theaters, comes with quite a horrific pedigree. Its co-writer and director, Tina Romero, is the daughter of the late George A. Romero, creator of the classic “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) and its numerous sequels. The new film also features a cameo appearance by Tom Savini, a legendary make-up artist in the horror fan world, who served in that capacity on a number of the elder Romero’s films.
What sets “Queens of the Dead” apart from other zombie films is that it’s set in a drag club and features a cornucopia of drag queens, various trans characters, and a lesbian couple in its storyline. Better still, many LGBT people play these roles, like Margaret Cho, Cheyenne Jackson and “Drag Race” alumnus Nina West. The film is chock full of the kind of campy humor one would expect from its queer cast.

“Queens of the Dead” opens in a church, where a flamboyant drag queen is matched up with a pastor on a gay dating app. But, as it turns out, the preacher has been turned into a zombie. He feasts upon the queen and turns her into a zombie as well.

Nearby at a drag club, butch producer Dre (Katy O’Brien) is desperate. Her lead performer calls in sick and showtime is fast approaching. Sam (Jaquel Spivey), a male nurse who dances his way down hospital hallways, learns of Dre’s problem and makes his way to the club to resurrect his retired drag persona.

There we meet a collection of flamboyant LGBT characters who engage in catty, campy backstage banter, which endears the audience to each of them, and is where much of the film’s humor comes from. There’s also a straight character thrown into the mix, Dre’s brother-in-law, brother to her wife.

When Brooklyn, where the film is set, is overrun by a zombie apocalypse, our heroes lock themselves in the club and try to figure out how they’re going to get out of the jam. They get some assistance from Pops (Cho), a tough butch lesbian who makes an impressive entrance on a scooter. Spoiler alert: Pops comes to a bad end.

There’s a subplot involving Dre’s pregnant wife, a nurse at the hospital where Sam works, trying to get to the club with a little help from a trans woman who was a patient at the hospital. In one of the film’s scarier scenes, they’re trapped in a car, surrounded by zombies.

This low budget film is well made and moves at a fast pace. The cast play off each other well, with each actor displaying a strong screen presence. The costumes on the drag characters are colorful and larger than life, exactly what good drag queens should be. The film is witty and loads of fun, and there’s enough zombie action to please the discriminating horror fan. LGBT fans of George Romero’s work will love it.

Tina Romero has done an admirable job with this, her first film. I don’t know whether or not she’s a member of the LGBT community, but she clearly understands the dynamics of LGBT people. And while “Queens of the Dead” is clearly not set in the same universe of her father’s films, it’s great fun to see something that was obviously inspired by them. It’ll be interesting to see what Tina does next. Hopefully this first outing won’t be her last.

‘Queens of the Dead’ opens October 24 at AMC Metreon, 135 4th St. and Alamo Drafthouse New Mission Theater, 2550 Mission St.
https://www.queensofthedead.com/