Leptirica

Wonderful, I've seen this movie ONCE when I was a kid and since then it's burned in my mind as of the most scary films I've ever seen. And I've seen A LOT of horror. Hm, I think I will try to find this film again, I'm pretty curious about how I would feel now while watching it. It certainly did contribute to my love for the horror-genre, and vampire figures in films, in general. This particular vampire , leptirica, is very old in Slavic folklore. The female vampire shapeshifter, upir, can even be considered as a metaphor for many things. Feminine mystery or sexuality is one of them.Interesting !

I have watched this movie after finding out about it online. I didn't expect to watch overwhelming special effects or perfect film making. Keep in mind this was filmed in the '70s in Yugoslavia, and for TV. To make things worse, the recording I watched wasn't of extremely high quality (maybe a rip from a very old home recorded VHS).

The movie is seriously scary, but with some comedic relief which might be considered annoying if you don't expect to see them. Plot turns and surprises are well thought of in most instances. There is no attempt to "explain" the plot to the audience , as commonly happens with more modern western movies. I find this to be a nice thing, but some may find it a problem. The vampire the movie tells about is not a typical vampire from western movies, but maybe the retelling or older and more original Slavic legends.

The actress playing the protagonist's love interest was a treat. Beautiful and convincing, hard to believe she did not appear in famous movies. Effects rudimentary, but kind of convincing. Scares real. True that the vampire appears in three scenes: that's enough however. Those appearances are sudden, and only in one case can be expected.

Definitely advise for horror fans (with the caveat you are not watching Hollywood).

Yes! There were quite a few 'not so smart' people at TV Serbia back in 80's because they showed this film at 19:00 or even worse around 10:00 so all the children (i.e. Me) could see it and think its drama for kids...What a misconception!!!

This is vampire-horror masterpiece! Unfortunetally its TV movie made with TV camera so you never have impression of a real movie...But that kind of work has many achievements because you simply don't expect that kind of HORROR in that form of film-making!

Makeup is brilliant!!! Acting is beutyfull - all professional, academic actors - which is not the case with 99.99% of horror movies! Story it pretty simple but it all revolves in 19th century Serbia so it has sweetest plot I'we ever seen in a Horror!

I recommend it with greatest pleasure!

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.

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I saw this serbian film twice in my early childhood. Remember it still in the mist and it is one of the few horror movies that spooked the hell out of me. Highly recommended vintage treasure, straight 10/10, one of the TOP5 horror movies of all times. Brilliant camera, weird rural atmosphere, a true representative of Balkans' scary legends on the big screen.