Ever been at a bathhouse very late at night or early in the morning, when the dregs of the night gone by are still left over, stumbling around looking for that last chance at getting lucky?
The bathhouse in the wee hours. It can be kind of creepy, the way guys move, predatorily, hungry, thirsty, eager to strike without any regard for your humanity. Almost as if they were zombies …
Well, if you’ve ever experienced that, then SAUNA THE DEAD: A FAIRY TALE is for you.
SAUNA THE DEAD: A FAIRY TALE hs been be added to Qreel’s collection of shorts that blur the line between indie film and pornography is a brilliant British short that imagines what would happen if you were stuck in a bathhouse, late at night, when a zombie outbreak occurs! It’s a hilarious, horrific, and surprisingly heartfelt tale full of twists and turns that ultimately asks us to be kinder to each other in our sexual spaces.
Director Tom Frederic also stars as horny homo Jacob, who visits a local gay sauna in London. When he’s walking around, he 
finds the other visitors less than appealing and turns down guy after guy. But after a zombie outbreak starts turning them into zombies, Jacob must team up with one of the men he’s rejected and find a way to escape before it’s too late.
Frederic’s award-winning short combines elements of two very different types of horror tales – the classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD-style zombie gorefest and A CHRISTMAS CAROL – perhaps the most famous ghost story ever written – to create a brilliant, scary and very sexy exploration of the often predatory nature of 
cruising which offers a way for gay men can break that cycle. You might think twice after visiting your local bathhouse after watching…
SAUNA THE DEAD: A FAIRY TALE premiered at the 2016 BFI Flare LGBT Film Festival in London before making its US debut at Frameline in San Francisco, which is where NSFW curator Adam Baran first caught wind of it. He writes, “This is one of the smartest, funniest, and most ingenious queer shorts I’ve seen in years. It depicts an experience any hardened cruiser can relate to – the equally scary and silly nature of cruising in sex spaces like bathhouses and sex clubs – and by extension sex apps – while also suggesting that perhaps, changing our behavior – and being nicer – could literally save our lives. It’s a thrilling horror comedy, a fabulous “fairy tale” and a brilliant morality play all rolled into one. Plus, Mr. Frederic, the film’s director and star, is a seriously sexy fellow.”
[Watch SAUNA THE DEAD: A FAIRY TALE at Qreel]
From award-winning features to captivating documentaries and progressive short films, Qreel provides a vast and constantly expanding library of queer cinema with new additions every week.
[See The Best Of Gay Cinema at Qreel]