In the era of the “nepo baby,” having famous parents is probably a sharper double-edged sword than ever before. Nowadays, if you are descended from someone rich, successful, or influential, there’s no way people aren’t finding out about it, no matter what surname you use or how much you try to do things independently. So, if you happen to find yourself a nice little niche that you can build upon to distinguish yourself from your famous parent, that seems like a preferable approach — and this is exactly the route that Tina Romero, daughter of horror legend George A. Romero, seems to be taking. Her feature directorial debut, Queens of the Dead, takes the basics of what her dad is fondly remembered for and spins it off in its own distinct style. She is most certainly a Romero in her filmmaking, but you’d never mistake Queens of the Dead for her father’s work.
What Is ‘Queens of the Dead’ About?

Image Via IFC Films

The movie opens with a drag queen dressed to the nines, wandering into a church where she hopes to find her latest dating app hookup. Instead, she is attacked by a zombie priest, who takes a big, gnarly chunk out of her shoulder. We then cut to a club, where an outrageous Virgin Mary-themed show is being rehearsed, introducing us to a roster of fabulous characters, including Ginsey (Nina West, of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame), badass DJ Dre (Katy O’Brian), and the perfectly-named Scrumptious (Tomás Matos). It’s opening night, and everything seems to be going wrong. Queens are dropping out of the show, the choreography’s a mess, and they only have a few hours to figure it out.

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“Choke on ’em!”

And then, whaddaya know?! A zombie apocalypse happens. Talk about crappy timing! The streets outside the club are suddenly straight out of the Thriller music video, with crooked zombies in ’80s clothes hobbling around in the fog. For extra pizzazz, these aren’t just any old greenish-grey Romero zombies. They’re shimmery, metallic greenish-grey zombies, and like their victims, have a flair for the dramatic. When you have to get cannibalized by some brain-dead weirdo, it makes it a little better when they look good while they’re doing it. The cast and crew of the show spend the night in the vast warehouse-type building of the club, running, hiding and setting up traps to kick the zombies’ asses and survive til morning.
‘Queens of the Dead’ is On the Comedy End of Horror-Comedy

Image via Vanishing Angle

I’ve reviewed quite a bit of horror-comedy recently, and it’s an interesting subgenre because every example of it takes a completely different direction with its blend of the two elements. As you might expect from its premise, Queens of the Dead takes a much more comedically-oriented approach to its material, playing up the camp elements and making it into a fabulous, tongue-in-cheek cabaret show. But the unexpected thing is that when it needs to, the movie allows its characters to genuinely feel the weight of what’s going on around them. When someone’s friend or loved one is munched on by the undead, the action slows down and gives them the time to feel the grief and panic of the situation. It doesn’t immediately cut back to wacky hijinks or a saucy one-liner. Characters die, and those around them go through the emotional ramifications. It’s refreshing and very nice to see, giving the movie more of a heart. What’s such a shame is that for a horror-comedy that is leaning hard on its comedy, it’s not as funny as you would hope for. An average episode of Drag Race offers more laughs than Queens of the Dead does. While it captures the visual style and flair of drag, the movie feels like it’s missing the other key component of this art form: humor. It’s a style of performance that is known for taking the rougher stuff and turning it on its head, giving it a darkly comedic twist, and allowing audiences to laugh at it. It’s the arena where no holds are barred, where there could have been some really delicious gallows humor going on. It’s a shame that the script doesn’t live up to the raucous, chaotic pace that the cast and setup offer.
‘Queens of the Dead’ Explores Real LGBTQ+ Issues

Image Via IFC Films

While it chooses to stay mainly focused on its comedy, Queens of the Dead does not turn its back on the opportunity to explore some of the more prevalent issues facing the LGBTQ+ community, and drag artists specifically. An early scene introduces us to Sam (Jaquel Spivey), a compassionate hospital worker who has a history of performing drag. He meets a trans woman named Jane (Eve Lindley) in the hospital, and it is clear from their first interaction that Jane is used to being treated differently, particularly in a medical setting, because of her gender identity. This makes her defensive, but Sam effortlessly cuts through it all and sees the person at the center. By extending little acts of kindness, like addressing her as “Miss Jane” despite her hospital tag saying Jason, he immediately establishes himself as the heart of the movie. It is often through Sam’s eyes that we see these issues. Later, a heavily intoxicated Scrumptious stumbles into a bathroom and starts crushing a Xanax bar on the toilet seat, offering Sam some, which he declines with a distinct look of panic. The movie doesn’t shy away from some of the issues that are prevalent in drag and gay circles, but it never looks down on the people who embody them. They are free to get high or seek out questionable hookups, and there is always someone there to either look out for them or at least express concern for them. In the wider context of horror, it also moves them into position for typical kill setups. Everybody knows that sex and drugs are two sure-fire ways to get yourself killed in a horror movie, and Queens of the Dead takes advantage of this, but it is always careful to do it in the spirit of fun.
‘Queens of the Dead’ Needs More of the Dead

Image Via IFC Films

While falling somewhat short on its comedy, Queens of the Dead is also lacking in the zombie department. We certainly get them, both in hordes and in singular jump-scares and one-to-ones, but with plenty of character action and plotlines going on with the gang trapped in the club, it feels like a very human-centric story with bits of zombie thrown in. Of course, any good zombie movie is meant to be more about the living than the dead, and explore how the presence of zombies impacts those facing the threat of becoming undead. But it helps to have a few good zombie run-ins to demonstrate to the audience and the characters exactly why these creatures are worth fearing and running from. A theme of zombification through technology is hinted at throughout the movie, and it feels like a somewhat half-baked idea. This would be the perfect vehicle through which to explore the ideas of people, young folks, especially, being slaves to social media and dependent on technology in general. After all, you need a cool movie to preach a message like that, so it doesn’t come off as too condescending. Notably, all the street zombies have their cell phones in their hands, the screens glowing constantly, and the implication (seeing as we never get an explanation for what caused this zombie outbreak) is that cell phones have caused this brain rot. But the idea is never taken any further. Nobody notices the link and decides to go and sabotage a local cell phone tower to break the curse or anything. It’s just relegated to the background as one of those little thematic elements that you might pick up on, but has basically no bearing on the story. Shame. This could have been a fun angle if it were fleshed out more. This is only the second feature credit for actor Jaquel Spivey, who was easily one of the best parts of the terribly un-fetch Mean Girls movie from last year. He brings that Damian energy over to Queens of the Dead, making for a thoroughly good-hearted, sympathetic lead whose rediscovery of his drag persona you absolutely cannot wait to see. And trust me, it is worth the wait. The show-stopping musical number that Sam delivers in the finale, complete with a sensational drag-on-a-dime outfit made out of old drinks cans, is really where the movie reaches its full potential and delivers on all that attitude, color, and energy that you want from it. Tina Romero’s website reads, “As a director, Tina works from a place of care, welcoming her audience to surrender to an androgynous, curated, whimsical world, far away from the everyday.” Romero certainly does this with Queens of the Dead, and with such an inviting professional ethos, I cannot wait to see what else she has in store for us. Queens of the Dead premiered at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.

Queens of the Dead

A new generation of Romero brings us a new generation of zombie.

Director

Tina Romero

Writers

Tina Romero, Erin Judge

Producers

Matt Miller

Pros & Cons

A good-hearted, fun romp through the zombie genre.
Jaquel Spivey offers some great energy in his performance as Sam.
The movie explores some prevalent LGBTQ+ issues.

For a camp comedy, the movie doesn’t have enough laughs.
Some more zombie action would have been appreciated.
An interesting theme of zombification through tech is never really explored.