By Dolores Quintana

I never thought I would get a vision of the zombie apocalypse that is as beautiful as Queens of the Dead. It’s the beauty of the queer world joining together, not until after some of their personal quarrels are worked out, to save themselves from the undead. It’s a horror comedy through the LGBTQ+ lens, perfectly focusing on the challenges and, ultimately, the strengths of the LGBTQ+ community. 

You can purchase tickets here, and you should, because this film comes with my strongest recommendation.  

Directed by Tina Romero, yes, that kind of Romero, and co-written by Romero and Erin Judge, and starring a fantastic cast including Katy O’Brian, Jaquel Spivey, Tomas Matos, Nina West, Quincy Dunn-Baker, Jack Haven, Cheyenne Jackson, Dominique Jackson, Margaret Cho, Riki Lindhome, Eve Lindley, Becca Blackwell, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Julie J.

You can watch the trailer here:

Tina Romero’s vision of the ZA is ultimately the most realistic one. People have no idea what to do, don’t believe it’s happening, and people get hurt. They panic and forget things. She and co-writer Erin Judge have also hidden references to other zombie films and outright changed certain things. As Tina Romero said to me after my interview with her, after I mentioned the glamorous skin of the dead, “The zombie apocalypse has always been so butch, and that wouldn’t work for club kids from Bushwick.”

She was so right. It adds to the creatures and is perfectly aligned with the film and its characters. They fight the zombies with the weapons that they have, which eventually leads to a sensational drag queen performance zombie killing spree. 

But the most important thing about the film is the true and genuine emotion that runs throughout the 99-minute running time. The actors, who are all perfectly cast, put their souls into it even when they are doing their comedic best. There’s one particular death scene that made me cry, as the characters involved did their best to spare each other the pain of the inevitable, and the survivor wept. 

It’s hilarious, it’s filled with the unbreakable spirit of gay people, it’s got shade, it’s got gross and gory deaths, and I think Romero even managed to bring in a James Herbert death/reference that leads to one of the best jokes in the movie. There’s even one straight guy from Queens who is a conspiracy theorist, but even he learns and grows. 

Tina Romero has performed a double backflip miracle with Queens of the Dead. She has honored the spirit of her father’s work, but created something new that is 100% her own. She has given something new and magnificent to the zombie horror subgenre that leads the way and rings the changes, as only a confident and great director would. Everything about the movie is bold and it marches into the future with pride. 

To paraphrase Cecil B. Demented, she has a vision.