The Witchcraft franchise is crawling back from the grave — and it’s bringing Eric Roberts with it.
The Oscar-nominated actor (Runaway Train, The Dark Knight, Babylon) has officially joined the cast of Witchcraft: The Lanterne of Light, the newest installment in the long-running horror franchise. But this isn’t the campy direct-to-video horror fans may remember. Director Carissa Pierson and writer Andrew Pierson are taking the series into much darker territory with a brutal found-footage nightmare soaked in occult lore, ritual sacrifice and psychological terror.
Set deep within the forests of North Carolina, Witchcraft: The Lanterne of Light follows a paranormal investigation crew documenting the legend of a cursed lantern connected to an ancient cult known as The Children of the Hollow. As the crew digs deeper into the region’s disturbing past, they uncover ties to a sadistic exiled priest and a series of rituals inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins. What starts as a ghost hunt quickly devolves into something far more violent and inescapable.
Roberts joins a cast that also includes Andrew Pierson (A Soldier’s Descent), Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 & 5), Kato Kaelin (American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson), Kristina Lafser (The Last Sleepover) and original Halloween actress Sandy Johnson.
The filmmakers describe the project as a slow-burn descent into dread inspired by the realism of modern found-footage horror while still embracing the franchise’s supernatural roots. Expect ritual sacrifice, deteriorating sanity, blood-soaked ceremonies and footage the crew was never meant to capture.
“This film isn’t just another sequel — it’s a descent into something far more disturbing and atmospheric,” director Carissa Pierson said. “We wanted to create a horror experience that feels raw, immersive and genuinely unsettling. Bringing Eric Roberts into this world adds another layer of intensity that horror fans are going to love. And this is only the beginning — fans can expect more major cast announcements very soon.”
Launched in 1988, the Witchcraft series became one of horror’s longest-running franchises with sequels spanning multiple decades. The Lanterne of Light aims to reinvent the mythology for a new generation while digging deeper into the occult history behind the cursed lantern at the center of the story.
Production is currently underway.