SCARY SHORTS: "IVI ELV" Is An Exercise In Avant Garde Terror
One of the biggest travesties in modern film criticism is the lack of representation of short films. Sure, the Academy Awards recognizes them on a broader scale, but when it comes to horror, the only people who get exposed to short films are the ones who sit in screening rooms during conventions. And if you’ve ever sat in one of those rooms at say HorrorHound or Days of the Dead you’ll know that they often are woefully under-attended. At Macabre Daily, we aim to shine a light on all things scary and spooky, especially the films that won’t get picked up by the algorithms or stanned by your favorite content creator on TikTok as the “scariest thing I’ve ever seen OMG”. These are the films that demonstrate what’s possible when creativity and passion collide, and we hope to celebrate them in kind here in this space! For today’s Scary Short, we are going to Italy for writer/director Luigi Scarpa’s , IVI ELV.
Synopsis: A man regains consciousness somewhere unknown and claustrophobic. Dazed and confused, he begins to wander its dark corridors, but a series of visions will force him to deal with a far worse reality.
One of the first things that stands out about "IVI ELV" is how crisp and sharp the cinematography is. From the opening moments a palette of grays, blacks, and hues of deep blue cascade over the landscape alongside close-up shots of festering maggots. There is an attention to detail through the camerawork and lighting that demonstrates competency far beyond that of most filmmakers, and it is as captivating as it is disturbing. The story is ambiguous as we follow a man who has woken up in a strange, seemingly deserted holy place, and is trying to piece together what has happened and where he is. There is a sparse use of dialogue, but viewers won’t mind as they are wholly entranced by the audio and visual experience on screen.
There are flashback moments that offer mere pieces of the memory puzzle our character is trying to fit together, and these scenes are notably higher contrast in color scheme letting the viewer know that something terrible has occurred. While the film doesn’t offer much explanation, it provides some closure at the end, offering a symbolic interpretation of what we’ve just seen before us. Part of what makes "IVI ELV"such an engrossing watch though, is that it doesn’t require a full explanation to justify the experience. The tone is somewhere between Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and a NIN music video, overflowing with lush imagery and juxtaposed with the grotesque. There isn’t much constructive to say about "IVI ELV" as it is lean, efficient, and well-made through and through. If anything, we are left hungering for more, which is always a good sign in short!
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