It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Fantastic!

Absolutely Fantastic

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

"The She-Butterfly" is a genuinely frightening Serbian fairy tale revolving around a cursed mill and the young man willing to spend a night there to win the hand of a village maiden.The IMDb reviews are pretty funny -it seems this Yugoslavian TV movie was inadvertently screened in a time slot reserved for kids and it scared the bejezus out of a whole generation of impressionable Slavs. I didn't quite get the connection between the vampire and the butterfly but felt better about it later on when I read no one else did, either. You have to know Serbian folklore, it seems, but it really doesn't matter since the film's got the look of a Grimm fairy tale and the toothsome demon doesn't disappoint. Recommended!

This Serbian, made for TV movie, tells the folkloric tale of a 19th century rural village, seeped in superstitious paranoia. There are tales of Sava Savanovic who died at least a century ago; his myth embroiled with vampiric tendencies. In the opening scene the village miller, Vule (Toma Kuruzovic), sleeps in the isolated mill. through a montage of close-ups we see staring eyes, surrounded by dirty skin; an ash- blackened hand, adorned with long, sharp finger nails, dip in the flour; sharp teeth are exposed, not in the traditional fang image of western vampire lore, but a full front row of stalactite-like gnasher's. Vule has his throat ripped out. With the discovery of the body, we are informed that this is the fourth miller to die within a year, and the speculation of a vampire murderer is brought forward.Strahinja (Petar Bozovic) is a very poor local, who is in love with the very beautiful Radojka (Mirjana Nikolic), daughter of the ill-tempered farmer, Zivan (Slobodan Perovic). Strahinja has asked permission of the farmer for her hand in marriage, which he bitterly denies. After this severe knock-back, Straninja decides his only option is to leave the village for good. On his way out, he is stopped by the locals, who convince him to take the miller job. He stays the night there, and is visited by the vampire, only he is not killed. The villagers gather to try to hunt down the monster.Vampire films are so incredibly prevalent at this moment in time, but most do not hold any form of atmosphere. Leptirica has it in spades. The rural setting offers an eerie sense of doom, with sound created with the sounds of screeching owls. The eccentricities of the villagers reminded me of some of the comedy characters in a Kurosawa film. The sense of isolation in the remote village is palpable also, lending the film an aura of horror. As the film was made for TV, it only runs for a little over an hour, and I felt that it would have benefited from a slightly longer running time. But this aside, I was surprised with the entire narrative, and its simplicity makes it an enjoyable experience. The films title translates into English as Butterfly, which has its meaning exposed in the last moments. Whilst it is clear who the vampire is early on in the film, it does not diminish the climax, which is gaudy, but strangely haunting.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

One of the things I regret the most in my life is the fact that I didn't see this TV-drama film when everybody else in my generation saw it. I saw it later when I was 16 and it was funny. Still, it had some really chilling moments. I call it a true folk-horror. Kadijevic is famous for his work in the area of Serbian historic and ethnic stories. His greatest work would be "Life of Karadjordje" but Leptirica remains his most famous work. Cult status in all Balkan countries. Did you know that werewolf and vampire means the same in the folklore of Serbian people and that vampire is the only Serbian word used worldwide. Not available on DVD but can be found in DivX format.

I saw this as a child and I remember that I was so scared that I couldn´t sleep for days. So, like twenty years later, here I am, watching it for the second time. The feeling, of course is not the same, ´cause through the years I became very big fan and some kind of an expert for horror cinema. But still... This is probably the first real horror made in Yugoslavia and it´s still the best. Dark atmosphere accomplished here is very unique and it really gives you the creeps. When I think of the comparison, the only movie that comes to my mind is BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (same atmosphere, dark woods, witches, etc.) and trust me when I say that Myrick & Sanchez flick is not at all superior. The only thing that annoyed me are the "comic elements". I really felt that they are not necessary (it is similar problem with all Yugoslavian suspense movies, such as: Variola Vera, The Strangler vs Strangler, Deja-Vu and more recently T.T.Syndhrome). But the last half an hour of the movie is so brilliant that we can forgive the director Kadijevic for that mistake.