Frozen Dead Guy Days

In 1993, a Norwegian named Trygve Bauge brought the frozen corpse of his grandfather, Bredo Morstoel, to the tiny mountain town of Nederland, Colorado. Trygve and his Mother, Aud, had planned to create a cryogenics institute with a special place to indefinitely suspend Bredo’s body for future restoration. Instead, Trygve was deported for overstaying his visa, and Aud began to store her father’s frozen remains in a makeshift Styrofoam sarcophagus inside a dilapidated shed behind her house. It was a Tuff Shed. This arrangement required the constant replenishment of the dry ice and a deal was made with a local firm, whose CEO quickly became known around town as “The Iceman”.

Ultimately, Aud was evicted from her house for living without electricity and plumbing which was, incredibly, against the law in this rustic mountain enclave. Aud went to the local newspaper with her fears of losing Bredo’s frozen body, and the story caused such a sensation that the town council immediately outlawed the “keeping of human bodies” in Nederland. Later, when cooler heads began to prevail, Bredo Mortstoel’s corpse, Aud’s Tuff Shed and regular visits from “The Iceman” were all “grandfathered” in. Embracing the strangeness of it all, and no doubt hoping to cash in, the Chamber of Commerce started the Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival in 2002.

This short documentary film, shot on Super 8mm film during several festivals in Nederland, captures the improbable absurdity of it all, and features the hapless adventures of Team La Muerta.

Official Selection of the 2011 Denver Underground Film Festival.