Following in the footsteps of her father, the late George A. Romero, who is perhaps best known for Night of the Living Dead, director and co-writer Tina Romero dips her toes into the zombie pool with Queens of the Dead. The film is a horror-comedy that is never really either, but it wears its heart on its sleeve, getting by with a game cast led by Katy O’Brian and a good-natured spirit.
When it comes to the zombies, Romero, who co-wrote the script with Erin Judge, has little interest in explaining how the dead became walking corpses ready to attack people in New York City. Of course, that’s not usually important in a zombie film anyway — whether it’s by some mutated disease or otherwise, the point is for the characters to figure a way out of their predicament. The film is competently made, and the pacing is good, but the character dynamics could have certainly used further exploration.
Queens of the Dead opens with a drag queen, having just finished a set and ready to go out again, being killed by a zombie inside a church. The zombies in the film have deep gray skin and wide, hungry eyes. It’s really the only distinction between them and those who are still alive, but it’s a creative way to give the undead some life in a film that is banking on them to stand out in some way.
The horror follows a group of characters — Dre (O’Brian), a struggling stage manager at the Yum club, Sam (Jaquel Spivey), a nurse and former drag queen who bailed on a big performance, Lizzy (Riki Lindhome), Sam’s co-worker and Dre’s wife, and Nina West, a headlining drag queen (and real-life one) who is just going through it. There are a plethora of other characters who appear, but the focus, and main source of tension, is between Dre and Sam (also known under the stage name Samoncé).
Queens Of The Dead Has Style But Its Character Development Needed Work
There’s so much going on, however, that it’s hard to become fully invested in the film’s emotional throughline. Primarily, this is because there really isn’t one. If a story could simply run on vibes, Queens of the Dead would be the definition of that. It can be fun to a fault. It doesn’t take itself seriously at all — and that’s for better and worse. We’re never inclined to take anything all that seriously, either, because there are no real stakes. Sure, there are zombies, but the character tension isn’t deep or explored thoroughly enough for there to be an undercurrent of real danger.
From the opening scene, the zombie interactions are detached. Romero aims for comedy, but perhaps aims so high that it forgets to stay a bit grounded, and yes, even a bit scary. When it comes to the horror aspect, the film is sorely lacking. There are no jump scares, no eeriness to the events that unfold. And even as it relied on the comedy to do most of the heavy lifting, Queen of the Dead is so rarely funny. Often, it feels more like it’s checking boxes than authentically engaging with the material.
This is due to the thinly drawn — if largely entertaining — characters. Their dynamics and interactions suggest a richness that doesn’t come across onscreen. From Dre’s disappointment in Sam to Sam’s drag queen redemption, the story doesn’t give them as much focus as needed, too busy moving from one moment to the next. The result is a sense of chaos that could have been exciting had it not strained towards being a touch dull.
What the film does have is a sense of style and an ability to keep us engaged through a riotous cast that is clearly having a lot of fun. Queens of the Dead has a frenetic energy, and it’s that energy that keeps it going despite its issues. It seems to be powered by willpower, style, and an exciting spirit that keeps it afloat at every turn. And, if you just want to see a bunch of drag queens fight zombies, then Queens of the Dead will be worth your time, so long as you’re willing to forgive its slumps and go with the flow.
- Release Date
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October 24, 2025
- Runtime
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99 minutes
- Director
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Tina Romero
- Writers
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Tina Romero, Erin Judge
- Producers
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Matt Miller