The grumpy landowner Živan visits a
watermill on the edge of the forest, bringing
wheat to be milled into
flour. While he converses with Vule, a
miller, strange sounds are heard outside the mill, and Vule believes that they're coming from some bird. The two spot Živan's daughter, Radojka, on the hill with her sheep, and Vule comments how beautiful she is, stating that she looks "like a
she-butterfly." During the night, Vule once again hears strange sounds coming from the forest. While he sleeps, the
millstone suddenly stops turning, and a strange human-like creature with black hands, hairy face, and long teeth enters the mill. It grabs a handful of flour, and after having inspected it, attacks Vule and kills him by biting his neck. The millstone starts to turn again. One of the peasants from the nearby village of
Zarožje discovers Vule's body the following morning, and runs off in horror to inform the village mayor about his discovery. The film turns into a romance between Radojka and a poor young man named Strahinja. The two meet secretly, because Živan refuses to approve of their relationship. In the meantime, the mayor of neighboring Zarožje, the village priest, and several villagers discuss the death of their miller. It is revealed that Vule is the fourth miller to be killed in the mill over the course of one year, and the villagers suspect that the men were killed by a
vampire named
Sava Savanović. Strahinja approaches Živan, asking for Radojka's hand in marriage, but Živan banishes him from his yard. Disappointed, Strahinja bids farewell to Radojka and leaves his village. While he's passing through Zarožje, he meets villagers who are discussing the cursed mill, and accepts their offer to become the new miller. He spends the night in the mill, sleeping in its attic. He is horrified by the vampire's visit, falls down from the attic, and lands in bags of flour; but he survives the night. In the morning, the villagers come to the mill and find Strahinja alive. He tells them that he saw the creature. The villagers are now convinced that it was Sava Savanović, who had died decades before. The villagers visit the oldest woman in a neighboring village to ask her if she knows anything about Sava Savanović. She reveals to them that Sava was buried in a crooked ravine under a crooked
elm tree. After having attempted unsuccessfully to find Sava Savanović's grave, the villagers decide to use an old method of finding a vampire's grave by guiding a black
stallion through the area. They realize that Živan is the only man in the region who owns a black stallion, so Zarožje's mayor goes off to borrow it. The mayor asks Živan why he refused to approve of Radojka's and Strahinja's marriage, but Živan remains firm in his decision and doesn't reveal his reasons for the refusal. Radojka hears the bird-like sounds and follows them into the forest. She is shown lying on the ground, sleeping. She wakes up with a smile on her lips. Strahinja and villagers from Zarožje guide the stallion through a ravine, and the horse reveals the location of the grave. They start digging and find a coffin. While the priest reads out a prayer, they nail a
stake of hawthorn-wood through the coffin and attempt to pour
holy water into the hole. However, a white
butterfly escapes from the hole. The villagers do not manage to catch it, but are nevertheless satisfied, believing that they have killed the vampire. During the celebration in the village, they promise Strahinja to help him. In the evening, they take Radojka away from her home and bring her to Zarožje, escaping the infuriated Živan. The whole village welcomes the couple, and the villagers start to prepare for their wedding. In order to prevent the couple from consummating their relationship before the marriage, an old woman is tasked with guarding the house in which the bride-to-be is staying, in accordance with an old
custom. Radojka, however, accepts Strahinja's offer to visit her during the night. As
the sun is setting, the strange sounds are heard once again. The old woman who is guarding the girl falls asleep, and Strahinja manages to sneak by her. As he undresses the sleeping Radojka, he discovers a bloody hole under her breasts. Radojka opens her eyes and transforms into a hairy creature with sharp teeth. She jumps onto Strahinja's back and leads him to Sava Savanović's grave, where she forces him to remove the stake out of the coffin. When he does so, she collapses on the ground. The coffin opens, and a
doppelganger of Radojka in her vampiric form climbs out of it, having the same stake-made wound between her breasts. While she climbs out of the hole, Strahinja manages to
impale her with the stake. The villagers wake up after the night of celebrating. When they realize that Strahinja sneaked into Radojka's room, they joke and laugh, unaware that the couple is actually not in the house. Strahinja is shown lying on the ground, motionless, with a
butterfly, which is fluttering its wings, in his hair. == Cast ==