Fully expecting him to be dead by the morning the council is astonished to find him still alive and decide to locate and destroy the grave of the vampire Sava Savanovic.Īfter locating the grave they pierce it with a stake but the soul of the vampire in the form of a butterfly escapes from the coffin before it is sprinkled by the Holy water. On the way he is met by members of the village council who persuade him to take the job of the village miller. After asking Zivan for his daughters hand in marriage and been refused on the grounds of his poverty Strahinja decides to leave the village. Meanwhile on the other side of the village a poor young man Strahinja is in love with Radojka (played by the hauntingly beautiful Mirjana Nikolic) the daughter of the local landowner Zivan. After four millers have been killed the council elders become desperate as food is rapidly running out. The story revolves around the 19th century Serbian village of 'Zaroshje' that is plagued by the vampire 'Sava Savanovic' who has been systematically killing anyone who takes charge of the flour mill (situated in the woods outside the village). Leptirica was the first 'Serbian' horror film and was loosely based on the 1880 story 'After Ninety Years' by Milovan Glisic.

I have read somewhere that the original reel is still exists and despite efforts by the director, it still remains in a dusty Belgrade television archive to this day. It was as far as I know only ever shown twice on the then Yugoslavian television network - its original 1973 TV broadcast - and again in the eighties (no idea of specific date) - It has never been 'officially' shown outside of its country of origin and no 'official' DVD release has ever surfaced. Leptirica (which roughly translates as 'She Butterfly' though I have also seen it called 'Night Butterfly') by the Croatian born director Djordje Kadijevic was made in the early seventies for the Belgrade television company 'Radiotelevizija Beograd'. Many thanks to the original unknown translator and subtitle maker - if anyone knows who they are, please get in touch so we can add you to the credits and generally praise your efforts. Note: The previous version has been deleted, this version features separate subtitles, timings and dialogue all completely revised as of August 2012 and now conforming to the forty character/two line standard. Until copies surfaced a few years ago, it was pretty much unknown outside of the Balkan states, if you enjoy films like Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, this is for you.' 'The legendary Yugoslavian vampire film, a completely different and some would say, more authentic take on the vampire mythos.

A serbian film putlocker