Though horror icon George A. Romero sadly died last year, his children are ensuring that his iconic ‘Of the Dead’ franchise will keep shambling on.
We already know that George Cameron Romero is working on Rise of the Living Dead, a prequel to Night of the Living Dead set in the mid-1960s, and now his daughter, Tina Romero, is set to release her take on the franchise: Queens of the Dead, which she described in a chat with The Saunder Blog as “a fusion of two huge parts of my world: zombies and Gay nightlife.”
Hmm. That sounds a bit weird, but I’m listening. Tell me more Tina…
“It’s a tribute to my father as well as my entrée into the genre he grandfathered,” she said. “I can’t say too much yet, but what I can tell you is that this film will have all the hallmarks of a George A. Romero classic: farce, politics, heroes, assholes, and most importantly, herds of silly and slow moving walkers that you can’t help but love. But I’m doing it Tina-style, and bringing the glitter, choreography, queers & queens.”
The script reportedly depicts the zombie apocalypse, seen through the eyes of patrons of a drag nightclub. This really feels like something that could either be a stone cold classic or a complete disaster. I’m betting that traditionalist horror fans are spluttering in rage right now though, as presumably the last thing they want to see is a gay zombie movie. But remember that George Romero was never afraid of tackling political and social issues through zombie films, so this could be just the ticket.
The project is still in the scripting stages at the moment, though with the Romero name attached (of a fashion), I think it stands a good chance of being produced. My only nitpick right now is that they’re missing a trick calling it Queens of the Dead when Gay of the Dead is right there for the taking.
