Gore with glitter in Tina Romero’s “Queens of the Dead”

Armed with sharp heels and biting (pun not intended) humour, “Queens of the Dead” is a

vibrant visual feast and a breath of fresh air in the modern zombie genre.

Part of this year’s stacked line-up of LGBTQIA Films at the Dublin International Film Festival,

Tina Romero’s feature debut takes her back to her inherited zombie roots with a sprinkle of

some queer twists and a star-studded ensemble. Set in Brooklyn, the club owner Dre, played

by Katy O'Brian who gave a spectacular performance in another great queer project “Love

Lies Bleeding”, is already having a bad day. Her main drag queen act Yasmine (Dominique

Jackson) has dipped for a better gig. Meanwhile Sam (Jaquel Spivey), a former drag

performer who misses the thrill of the stage, is encouraged by Dre’s wife Lizzie (Riki

Lindhome) to cover for Yasmine. It all escalates when in the middle of their show a zombie

outbreak happens, forcing the drag queens and club kids to arm themselves with speed

pourers and camp style outfits to battle the undead threat. A strong suit of the film is

provides a platform for artists of the LGBTQIA community, plus a musical number melange

with a major third act fight scene. The strong ensemble cast features real-life drag queens

like Nina West (from RuPaul’s Drag Race 11th season) and even more familiar faces and

newcomers, all bringing different energy that works in perfect unison.

What’s always been curious about the zombie genre is that, despite its stereotypes, it loves

to reinvent itself and every now and then there’s a trend of releasing projects that focus on

different aspects of the zombie narrative. Recently, the focus has shifted from exploring the

infected or the cause to following the brutal violence of the leftovers of humankind aka what

if the real monsters were the humans all along, as well as avoiding the use of the word

“zombie” like the plague. Similar themes we see in the new 28 Years Later franchise and

even in video games like “The Last of Us”. Dissecting human nature is certainly a broad

enough subject to avoid fatigue in the storylines, but it’s cool to see a zombie film like

“Queens of the Dead” where the spotlight is back on its half-living half-dead subjects. The

central spot on stage they certainly deserve with their almost hypnotic aesthetic. This is only

one of the few conventions of the genre that Tina Romero’s film breaks - the design of the

zombies. Strongly influenced by drag makeup and fashion, shiny and bold, the vibrant

colours and glittery outfits are one of the reasons the film seems so fresh as it gives its gore

a distinctive aesthetic. Even with the cheap fake blood splashing from their wounds, the

zombies with their bright lips and their matte green skin still seem so glamorous.

Despite its contemporary approach “Queens of the Dead” definitely has the charm of the

old-school low-budget horror movies and tastefully references other cult zombie classics like

“Shaun of the Dead”, considering half of the plot is the group barricading in a club and

waiting for it to “all blow over”. Romero has managed to create something of her own while

gracefully honouring her late father George A. Romero aka the father of the zombie movie. He

has stated before that he uses horror as an allegory and that zombies are more about

revolution and of “one generation consuming the other”. Some people tend to downplay

them, but zombie flicks have never been “brainless” as their title characters. They usually

have a social commentary undertone as is the conflict between authority and survival and

the subversion of 1960s racial stereotypes in “Night of the Living Dead”. In an interview Tina

Romero shares that the main theme of her feature is the contemporary device addiction and

that even in death the zombies stay glued to the screen. Another one is the corporatization

of queer talent cleverly depicted in a brief scene with some influencers.

Overall, “Queens of the Dead"'s witty mordant humour and unconventional twist would appeal

to the modern audience, scavenging for something eccentric and funny to see. It’s also nice

for once to have a nepo baby embracing their “heritage” without running away from it or

copying, but simply by paying homage in a creative and visionary way