Queens of the Dead

By Tina Romero, daughter of the master George A. Romero. More than following in her father's footsteps, it's a tribute. It's a good horror/comedy film with a component of social criticism, also always present in her father's films.

But it lacks mastery, lacks commitment; it's all playful, with the good intention of honoring her father, using the queer community and drag queens to which she belongs. But without a hint of scathing criticism.

It's a good and fun comedy, but nothing special, especially when compared to her father's legacy, which is impossible not to.

In short, it's not a bad horror comedy film, but don't expect a George A. Romero-style film.

Tina Romero knows she can't outrun her father's lurching legacy, and she's too smart to try. It's legitimately exciting that another Romero is here picking up the torch to deliver more zombie horror, but Queens of the Dead's disinterest in using the genre as an outlet for further commentary is odd. Missing the boat entirely on satirising the idiotic political assertions of its community in a way that would have made George proud, it feels way too heavy-handed and on the nose. Just way too shallow and clichéd, lacking in any form of depth, edge and nuance. I admire the intentions, but a film cannot coast along on those alone. Especially when it stars possibly the most annoying group of characters and performances to ever populate a Romero film, with the sole exception of Katy O'Brian and her biceps, they are constantly throwing shade at each other with some truly dire one-liners, which doesn't make for the best company in the world. Although I did appreciate the Tom Savini cameo. That being said, Tina's style works well enough; it's an energetic and visually engaging debut, but along with the whimsical musical score, it can't tighten the film's already uneven tone and glacial pacing. Unapologetically loud and severely lacking in laughs, tension and zombie mayhem, there's a veneer to Queens of the Dead that should make it far more enthralling, but it just runs out of steam by the end.

God, this was pretty bad. The drag scene in Bushwick was initially sort of fun but Romero's daughter ready has no skills in direction or pacing and the static over-the-top queening just gets on one's nerves after awhile. Terrible friend actors, bad script ..even George at his laziest wouldn't put something like this out. Would rather watch Bruce Springsteen sit on his dad's lap over this. Yikes.

I liked it. It was funny, imaginative and thought provoking. It stayed true to the Romero-esc zombie type. I'm not a fan of the fast moving / rager zombies.

It took me a while to understand the character's relationships to one another. The movie told two stories. It could have used more runtime to do justice to both. Some scenes felt rushed.

I hope to see more from Tina Romero. She certainly added a new twist to the zombie lore.

Hot on the (high) heels of 'Slay', comes 'Queens of the Dead' - a campy but hilarious film about drag queens fighting zombies. ('Slay' off course saw drag queens fighting vampires.)

In a club run by Dre, drag queens are preparing for their drag show, but they are about to get much more than they're prepared for! Dre is in relationship with Lizzy, who is a nurse and at the hospital attending to a patient when the zombie apocalypse breaks out. When the hospital is overrun by zombies, Lizzy and her patient manage to escape and try to make their way to the club.

Dre's brother is Barry, who together with the barman Jimmy seem to be the only straight characters in the movie. When you put a few drag queens together, you're bound to found bitchiness galore, and its hilarious! I especially enjoyed Ginsey and Nico. The performances from the entire cast were surprisingly good, actually.

Just like 'Slay' the rest of the film revolves around the characters trying to stay alive while fighting off zombies. Oh, and look, we have new generation zombies: they're on their mobile phones all the time!! This campy comedy even dishes up a few gory and bloody moments.

The film is the debut by Tina Romero, and yes, she is the daughter of George A. Romero, director of several Living Dead (zombie) movies. 'Queens of the Dead' is a fresh take on the zombie genre and perfect for the new generation! I really enjoyed this.