“Evil” Can Be a Drag

5th November 2025 Kevin M. Thomas

Most people in the Bay Area are very familiar with Peaches Christ, drag queen extraordinaire with a love for the macabre and darkness.

Many of you might not know that Peaches, out of drag, is director/writer/creator Joshua Grannell, who made the cult classic film All About Evil, celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.

What better way to celebrate than with a screening and Grannell is bringing Evil to San Francisco’s historic Roxie Theater on Nov. 6.In Grannell’s hands, it’s never just a screening – it’s an event. Grannell has been screening off-beat, campy and or creepy films for decades and often has the films’ stars on hand and/or does a drag re-enactment on stage before the screening.

So this event, which will be great for fans who still have a hankering for Halloween days later, will enjoy be a double feature with the film The Disinvited. “The writer and producer Matthew Mourgides and I have been creative partners for years. He’s the leader of the filmmaking collective behind all of our Terror Vault trailers since 2018,” he says. “We’ve always loved treating those like cinematic mini-movies, so it’s been such a thrill to watch him and director Devin Lawrence bring that same energy to a full-length feature. I’m absolutely thrilled to be part of this double feature with them.”

Besides the two movies and the filmmakers on hand, one wonders if Grannell will add a touch of his creative magic to the event. “Of course, ghoul,” he laughs. “You know me, I could never just roll the film and call it a night. Expect a live musical performance, a fabulous Q&A, and perhaps a few surprises.”

If you’re not in the area or busy Nov. 6, don’t fret too much. Requests have been coming in to screen the movie in other cities. “I just screened it last week in Normal, Illinois, and we had such a great turnout! The theater reminded me so much of the old Bridge Theatre in San Francisco, which made it feel extra nostalgic. I’m always so flattered and tickled that All About Evil continues to get programmed. It means the cult is still growing!”

Grannell adds that it seems to get booked around the world and is happy that “this little monster I made just keeps crawling out of its grave to surprise me and I love it.”

Perhaps part of its success, besides the great script and direction, is Grannell’s casting of Evil. His friendship with John Waters has rubbed off a bit as Grannell even featured the perennial Waters actress Mink Stole in a juicy part. The film also stars Natasha Lyonne, Thomas Dekker and Cassandra Peterson (who most know as Elvira Mistress of the Dark). “We bonded so deeply making that movie, and so many of the cast are still part of my chosen family. Some were dear friends before we shot, and others became chosen kin through the process. “

Grannell is not sitting on his laurels awaiting requests to screen Evil. Besides the Terror Vault, which is always a hit around Halloween, Grannell made a video with Dekker for the song Child of Christ?Another feature film is also in the works with his Midnight Mass podcast co-host. “I’ve co-written a narrative feature with Michael Varrati that I’m set to direct. It’s about the legendary San Francisco drag queen Doris Fish and the making of her cult masterpiece Vegas in Space. It’s such a wonderfully queer, ambitious, and utterly San Franciscan story of art, drag, and dreamers that it’s been haunting me for years. I can’t wait to bring Doris’s world back to life and share her story with a whole new generation.”