Queens Of the Dead (2025)

It took me four months to discover that Tina Romero’s QUEENS OF THE DEAD is truly great. My major mistake of the Tribeca Film Festival was to skip the film because I didn’t realize who the director was.  I thought it was just going to be another attempt at Tribeca to be edgy in their horror selections and not a film that not only stands on its own feet as a great horror comedy but also fits in beautifully with the Dead series of films that Tina’s dad made.

Before I get started  talking about the film I am going to make one more reference the George A Romero films and that is simply to say that George would be very proud of his daughter since she very clearly understood the assignment and made a film that is all about the characters and their humanity and not the zombies.

The film is set in a warehouse in Brooklyn that has been turned into an event space. A giant party is going to be happening, and the various characters are preparing for the event. Things go south very quickly as the zombie apocalypse happens, and the party people are trapped in the warehouse with very little in the way of weapons.

This is just a great film. Full of great characters, genuine laughs and some wonderful music, QUEENS OF THE DEAD kicks ass. I was hooked from the first as a drag performance is crosscut with Jello being delivered in the hospital. It’s one of the best musical moments I’ve seen all year, and it made me run out and get some popcorn because I knew the film had me hooked. I wanted to see what happened to these people and see how it all played out.

And yes, the film is set in a LGBTQ world. And yes, the film assumes you know the references, but don’t worry you won’t be lost, nor will you care because you will be too invested in all the characters. Yes, the film is set in a queer world, but it isn’t really about being queer, it’s about being a human being and dealing with unbelievable circumstances and trying to survive. This could have been set anywhere (a community theater in London or a boardroom in Berlin)  and it wouldn’t have made a difference; you’d just have different references. This is not to sell the LGBTQ specificity short, it’s simply to state that if you are getting hung up on that then you are missing one of the most wonderful horror/comedies in years, and you are missing the coming out party for a new feature director who is going to be doing wonderful things (Tine, please make more movies – maybe with Margaret Cho as an action hero)

Is QUEENS perfect, no. There is a slow part toward the middle as we must bridge the great opening with the zombie madness, but it isn’t fatal, it’s just the moving of pieces.

Ultimately, I loved this film. I laughed, I winced, I found a bunch of new friends.

Highly recommended.