Queens of the Dead

A stunning blue-haired drag queen has a rendezvous at a church and finds that its was not what they were expecting.

It’s a classic opening for a film that promises a lot from the off. Dre (Katy O’Brian) is putting together a glittering club party promising dancing, singing, drag and a lot of fun. What she hadn’t counted on very much was the jealousy and personality clashes between the acts and also some relationship issues. Not least hers with Lizzy (Riki Lindhome) who is trying to get pregnant and is caught at the hospital during a zombie attack with Jane (Eve Lindley).

With the zombie outbreak starting to get out of control the local media begin to report it. The Mayor, a cameo by Tom Savini, is called upon to make a statement with little apparent effect. It’s basically left down to the wits of the people of New York.

Directed by Tina Romero, co-written with Erin Judge, Queens of the Dead in its early stages has a lot going for it. The characters are large, the dialogue is snappy and there’s a good feeling about the film.

The problems begin when the zombie menace starts to make of a presence in the film. There are a number of separate strands to the story and trying to bring them together leads to what looks like padding and leads to some saggy scenes. This makes the film feel longer than it is and at times quite frustrating.

More positively Romero and Judge have a knack for dialogue, especially dealing the unreconstructed male in a non-patronising way. The writing clearly clicked with the cast who looked comfortable with their characters and banter; they look as if they were having a good time.

They also have a dig at social media using the zombies to satirise people’s habit of walking mobile in hand transfixed on the screen with little to no thought of what else is around them. It’s an assured debut from Tina Romero.

Queens of the Dead will be available on Shudder from 7 August 2026