Slay

"Slay," a film drenched in Drag queerness, where vibrant characters strut across the screen in a mashup of genres: part Western, part vampire flick. Set in a single location, it cleverly maneuvers its budget constraints to uproarious effect. I haven't chuckled like this in ages.

It's a high-wire act of a movie, teetering on the edge of failure, yet somehow, it triumphs. Seamlessly blending its comedic concept, "Slay" soars. In an era where crafting broad, crowd-pleasing comedies is a challenge, this one boldly declares its presence, inviting audiences to join in the fun. But amidst the laughter, there's depth and consequence, adding layers of joy to the experience.

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.

From (free) tubi streaming. When four drag queens are mistakenly booked to perform their show at a redneck biker bar, they fear for the worst. But they stick around for a couple fans who have been waiting for them to arrive. It seems to be similar to "to wong foo".. where they ended up in a small, rough town, but make some friends along the way. Not a lot of info on this, and not many votes, so clearly it hasn't been viewed by many people yet. Some fun costumes. The script needed some fixing up... pretty slow in places. Even the drag banter was less than optimal. It quickly turns into vampires against humans. Except the barflies don't realize the vampires are on the move until about thirty minutes in! Then it turns into a vincent price horror story. It's okay. Kind of fun, but lower budget. Written and directed by jem garrard. Garrard has worked on various tv series and films. A canadian film, filmed in south africa.

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.