Originally titled, “Kicking Zombie Ass for Jesus”, the since renamed “Dead Don’t Die in Dallas”, was released on DVD and digital retailers on September 17, 2019 after a six-year wait due to production and legal issues. The project, a religious and political exploitation film, stars “RuPaul’s Drag Race” personality Willam Belli as Beth-Ann Fetterman, a transgender hairdresser battling for survival against a transphobic preacher and his wife during the zombie apocalypse in West Texas.
About the Film
After a miracle pill intended to cure all infectious diseases turns the people who took it into flesh-craving mutant zombies; it forces the few survivors of a small Texas town into an abandoned building for survival. When they gather themselves together, they learn that their group is made up into LGBT people and religious people. Will they put aside their differences or fall prey to the zombies?
The Interview:
We have an interview with one of the stars of the film, Drag Race alumnus Willam Belli:
Queer Sci Fi: Hey Willam… we loved you on Drag Race, but your acting career predated your appearance on the show, right? Can you tell us about it?
Willam: “Acting” is a strong word for what I did. It was mostly one liners and under 5’s (parts with under 5 lines like co-star stuff) on cop shows and anything else they needed to swing a drag queen around by her wig on.
QSF: What’s your character like in Dead Don’t Die in Dallas?
W: I remember feeling like I was in a different movie than some of the people. But Beth-Ann Fetterman is a nice lady who does hair and doesn’t want to die from zombies.
QSF: How did you get the role?
W: Israel Luna offered me the part after my appearance in TOTWK (Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives).
QSF: How did you prepare for it? Do you have a method?
W: I tried not to freeze at night during the night shoots and tried to not get eaten by mosquitoes by day in glamorous Spamburger Texas.
QSF: I see that the movie was filmed in 2013… what took it so long to finally get released?
W: Ya got me.
QSF: What else can we see you in?
W: My Youtube channel is www.youtube.com/noextrai and I have a new Quibi show called Fashion’s a Drag in 2020.
QSF: What are you working on now?
W: I’m getting the Palm Springs place I bought on HGTV’s House Hunters ready to rent on AirBNB in Jan 2020. Lots of drag history going into it (the hair Trixie won all-stars in, 30 Wigs by Vanity, Latrice’s shoes -which also can double as pool floats.
More About the Film:
The movie was filmed in September 2013 over the course of seventeen days, after a successful crowdfunding campaign via IndieGoGo raised the initial funds to begin filming. After the movie wrapped filming an additional 150,000 dollars were put towards the film to be used for special-effects editing, once securing distribution through ITN.
The Crum Brothers were hired to edit the film originally (Gerald Crum also has a small role in the piece); however after attempting to steal the project and claim it as their own, they were fired from the movie. Israel Luna (the film’s director) took it upon himself to edit the movie, in addition to many other positions he held. Editing took around three years, with the movie getting screenings until its release in 2019.
Luna, an openly gay male, made the project in response to news coverage over the years of religious and political figures using their views to target the LGBT community. Israel says that the movie isn’t about bashing anyone, rather it’s a “pro-Christian pro-LGBT” movie made to hopefully bring opposite sides together.
Where can I rent/buy this dvd?…It’s not on Netflix list….