Slay

Let me be honest: I didn't know about ' Slay' until I browsed Neil Sandilands' profile, and the only reason I decided to watch the movie is because of Neil Sandilands.

2023 saw the release of 'Summoning Sylvia' starring contestants of RuPaul's Drag Race. That was the first séance/possession movie I've seen with a predominantly gay cast. Now, with the release of 'Slay', it is the first predominantly gay vampire movie - of this caliber - I've ever seen, and once again starring contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race.

Neil Sandilands stars as Dusty, owner of a bar called The Bold Buck. Drag queens Mama Sue Flay (Trinity the Tuck), Robin Banks (Heidi N Closet), Olive Wood (Cara Melle), and Bella Da Boys (Crystal Methyd) are to perform at the bar due to a booking blunder. Butch biker guys make fun of them on arrival.

Undaunted, the drag queens go ahead with their show, but during their first act a vampire stumbles into the bar and attacks one of the patrons. And this is just the start of a vampire attack that will see the queens and the patrons fight for survival.

Although there are quite a bit of blood and gore, it is done in such a funny way that it will leave the audience roaring with laughter instead of cringing. Yes, it is maybe a bit silly at times, but generally funny and definitely entertaining. It's like 'To Wong Foo' meets 'From Dusk Till Dawn'.

The performances from the drag queens were pretty good. Then again, I suppose being real drag queens, they were in their comfort zone. The film also has a nice soundtrack, and for most parts the make-up (and I'm not referring to the queens' make-up) also weren't too shabby (for a horror comedy).

'Slay' offers a good dose of action, humour and a few interesting visuals, blended into a campy movie with bite! I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Dusty was still the best character for me, and I enjoyed his back story and character development. I also liked Travis (Daniel Janks), another character who developed through the course of the movie.

Was it perfect? Oh no. But then I wasn't expecting perfection. I enjoyed the performances of Trinity the Tuck, Heidi N Closet and Crystal Methyd particularly. I was pleasantly surprised by Crystal as I did not care for her much when she was on Drag Race. Cara Melle was a bit of a disappointment. She didn't embrace the absurdity as much as the other queens did with their characters. The supporting cast surprised me with their commitment to their characters. I laughed, yelled out "Ewwwww!" frequently, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I could go all academic and do a high-falutin' critique, but why do that when I had so much fun watching. It's a silly bloody dragfest of a film and absolutely worth giving a go. Heidi N Closet and Crystal Methyd's performances alone are so absolutely OTT and, to use a RuPaul-ism, "STUPID!" that your will not be wasting your time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and thought the characters were so funny. There were lots of characters (other than the Queens) that really made the movie and story line great. It poked fun at itself a little bit especially with a scene that was full of written action sequences but wasn't given the budget to complete.

It was shot great and had fun wardrobe, lots of laugh out loud comedy bits and a few good jump scares.

It also paid great homage to the previous Vampire movies/Cult classics with references and discussion.

It's been a long time since I watched/ finished a movie and thought "that was actually really entertaining!"

I hope Tubi keeps making films like this and everyone go enjoy it while it's still free!!

I wish i could give this 9.5 stars. In my opinion, 10 is reserved for your absolute favorites, and while i will definitely watch this again, its not quite there.

Excellent acting, a plot that was hammy but not stupid, decent action and mostly practical effects.

I really don't have much to complain about (which is not what I expected from a Tubi original). There were a couple blood after effects that looked pretty bad, and a few plot points that were pretty obvious, but they were very minor.

Had a good soundtrack too. Very appropriate for a drag show mixed with vampire horror.

Watch it for free on Tubi.

I really thought this movie was going to be very cringe. Most drag movies aren't really good. This movie was actually really good. I loved the jokes and the message the movie delivered. I also loved that they used other vampire movie references. These queens did a really great job with their acting. This is NOT a Rupaul acting challenge. I really hope there is a sequel with more drag queens or even drag kings. Give it a try, if you got 1 hour and 30 minutes to waste. I am so glad that they did NOT used the God awful producer --Assaad Yacoub-that every drag queen uses for music videos or projects.