If you're going to wade into the overcrowded territory of zombie movies and think you can make your mark on the sub-genre then I guess it could be a huge help, or a huge hindrance, to be the child of George A. Romero AKA "the father of the zombie film". It also helps to put a different spin on things, even if that's just setting most of the movie in a club largely populated by drag queens, for instance.
Queens Of The Dead is just that, a club-set zombie movie directed and co-written by Tina Romero. There's supposed to be a big night happening, which would help club owner Dre (Katy O'Brian), but the plans are interrupted by an unexpected influx of hungry creatures. They're not the only ones who can seem fierce and fearless though.
A debut feature for both Romero and Erin Judge (the other writer), Queens Of The Dead feels very much like a debut feature, yet it could have easily avoided the usual pitfalls. There are enough good performers, and enough familiar faces, to help it stand out from the crowd. There's a fun idea at the heart of it. And there's also a soundtrack with a few hit songs features (which, admittedly, may have taken up too much of the budget).
O'Brian has been doing very well over the past few years, and she makes a great central character here. She's not the only one given a full journey to go on, but she has the ability to stand out from the others and feel like the actual lead. Jaquel Spivey, playing Sam, is the other person allowed to show growth and development during the escalating crisis, and does a very good job. There are smaller roles for both Margaret Cho and Riki Lindhome, two comics you may well recognise, and other core group members are played by Quincy Dunn-Baker, Tomás Matos, Nina West, Jack Haven, and Dominique Jackson. Most of them do well, but there's a very wide range of acting skill levels on display. And let's not forget a Tom Savini cameo that is neither clever nor amusing, but I guess it ticks a box when it comes to trying to appeal to fans of Romero's legacy.
It's a great shame that the screenplay isn't better, especially with the excellent potential of the premise. Some amusing insults are peppered throughout, but there's a disappointingly small amount of full-blooded snark and cutting comments. The character played by Dunn-Baker is shown to be a typical guy struggling to use the right terminology, but even he isn't used as well as he could be. And the fact that he's on his own ensures that tensions remain pretty low. Yes, that's the other big problem. There's no tension. The characters onscreen rarely accept the full seriousness of the situation, which makes it impossible for viewers to be truly concerned about the fate of anyone.
Tina Romero does just enough to keep this above the very worst of the worst zombie movies, thanks to the characters assembled and the spirit of "existence is resistance" that bonds so many of them during this horribly tough time in the real world around us, but she needs to spend more time on the writing and ways to cover up the low budget when she gets around to making whatever her next feature may be. I hope she moves away from zombies, or figures out how to mix in more horror and threat with the comedy.
5/10
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