The Devil's Trap (1962): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1962, The Devil's Trap is a drama and history film directed by František Vláčil, running about 85 minutes.

What it’s about. A small town is one day visited by a priest who is there on a secret mission. He is a member of the Inquisition sent to investigate the activities of a local miller. The miller and his son are the descendants of an old family whose ancestral home burned down a century ago, but was rebuilt from scratch. The miller inherited much of his knowledge about the land, water, and a building's stability from generations of family experience. His reputation for finding water and predicting when a structure might collapse have come to the attention of the Inquisition -surely he must be in league with the Devil.

Who’s in it. The Devil's Trap stars Vítězslav Vejražka as Mlynár Spálený, Miroslav Macháček as Kaplan Probus, Čestmír Řanda as Regent Valecský z Valce and Vít Olmer as Mlynářův syn Jan, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.7/10, The Devil's Trap has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Devil's Trap page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Devil's Trap tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.