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Leptirica
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Wikipedia article
'Leptirica' (, translation "The Butterfly") is a 1973 Yugoslav Made-for-TV horror film based on the story 'After Ninety Years' (1880) written by Serbian writer Milovan Glii. It was directed by the Serbian director ore Kadijevi. 'Leptirica' was the first Serbian horror movie and is considered one of the top Serbian and former Yugoslav horror films. The movie was filmed in the village of Zelinje, near the river Drina, close to the city of Zvornik. The mill that appears in the movie is still in its original location.
Plot
An old miller hears strange sounds coming from the woods. While he sleeps, a millstone suddenly stops working and a strange human-like creature with black hands and long teeth and nails bites his neck.
After the opening scene, the film turns to a romance between a poor young man Strahinja (Petar Boovi) and a beautiful girl Radojka (Mirjana Nikoli). Radojka is the daughter of landowner ivan (Slobodan Perovi), who refuses to allow her to marry Strahinja. Disappointed, Strahinja leaves his village and goes to Zaroje. He meets peasants discussing the cursed mill and accepts their offer to become the new miller. He spends the night in the mill and survives the attack of the creature, finding out its name - Sava Savanovi. The villagers visit the oldest woman in a neighboring village and ask her if there is a grave of someone called Sava Savanovi somewhere nearby. After finding the place where his body is buried, they nail a stake through the coffin and a butterfly flies out of his mouth.
The peasants help Strahinja take Radojka from her home and bring her to Zaroje. During the night, while the villagers are preparing the wedding, Strahinja sneaks into his future wife's room while she is asleep. As he undresses her, he discovers a bloody hole under her breasts and realizes it is from the stake they used to impale Sava's coffin. Radojka opens her eyes and transforms into a disgusting hairy creature which climbs onto Strahinja's neck while he is trying to run away. She leads him to Sava's grave where he manages to take the stake out of the coffin and impale her.
The film ends with Strahinja lying motionlessly on the ground and a butterfly in his hair moving its wings.
Cast
* Mirjana Nikoli as Radojka
* Petar Boovi as Strahinja
* Slobodan Perovi as ivan
* Vasja Stankovi as Kmet
* Aleksandar Stojkovi as a peasant
* Tanasaije Uzunovi as The priest
* Ivan urevi as a peasant
* Branko Petkovi as a peasant
* Toma Kuruzovi as Vule
See also
* Cinema of Yugoslavia
* Cinema of Serbia
* List of films based on Slavic mythology
* Vampire film
References
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