Foreign cinema can provide fascinating glimpses into other cultures and their folklore.  It can also reveal the similarities between societies.  Consider the 1973 Serbian film Leptirica, which goes to some length to demonstrate every place has large groups of mostly useless men who seem to do little more than sit around bullshitting and drinking.

The men in the medieval village in this picture have an interesting problem, as a vampire has been killing each man tasked with monitoring the collective flour mill.  I assume the guard is necessary to prevent a fire or explosion, though this isn’t explained.  Without one, each household would need to grind their own and, since that doesn’t appear to be likely, the men complain they will be forced to eat whole grain as if they are animals.  Sounds to me like the kind of diet which could only benefit their colons.

The latest recruit for the job is Petar Bozovic, a young man who is despondent over the inability to marry comely blond sheep herder Mirjana Nikolic, due to the objections of her father (Slobodan Perovic).  He survives an attempted attack by a vampire on his first night on duty, but only by accidentally falling from the loft in which he had been sleeping.  Having landed in a great quantity of flour, he scares the others who arrive to check on him in the morning, as he appears to be a ghost.

The vampire in this is interesting, as it is a hairy creature with four, long, thin fangs that do not resemble the teeth of anything I’ve seen before.  The nature of the creature is ambiguous, as it may be a vampire that had been buried in an unmarked location or it may be those who are touched by a butterfly which escapes from that coffin when the villagers dig it up.

First off, that “butterfly” looks like something anybody who has seen a moth would say is such.  Secondly, it is telling a character early on says Mikolic is like a butterfly.  As for myself, I just questioned the wisdom of her walking barefoot around all those sheep.  And don’t even think of accusing me of spoiling anything, as the title translates in English to “She-Butterfly”.  I would have preferred were-butterfly or even were-moth, but what do I know.

This made-for-TV production is quite intriguing, for reasons I could never determine whether were down to cultural differences or if this is simply an odd movie by anybody’s standards.  Some elements make this feel akin to tales from that era in nearby regions, especially a moment where a supernatural being rides around on person’s shoulders, ala Russia’s Viy.  But then you have the sounds the creature apparently makes, and these seem to be inexplicably lifted from a library record of jungle sounds.  Y’know, those famous jungles of Serbia…

The one element I did not expect is how intentionally funny the film would be, and I started to wonder if elements such as those monkey howls were part of the humor.  Some of the humor is slapstick, though most of it is from the laconic character interactions and droll line readings.

The biggest mystery remaining for me after finishing Leptirica is why the flour mill specifically is under attack.  Before each guard is killed, the grinding wheel will…well, grind to a halt and a furry hand will reach in through a window and sift through some of the product.  I’m going to assume the creature is testing the purity of the flour, to prevent experiencing the greatest terror of all, and that is today’s triple-bleached shit.

Dir: Djordje Kadijevic

Starring Mirjana Nikolic, Petar Bozovic, Slobodan Perovic

Watched as part of Severin’s blu-ray box set All the Haunts Be Ours: A Folk Horror