Netflix’s horror movie catalog is growing in September 2024 with the addition ofEvil Dead Rise, one of the strongest horror franchise reboots in recent years. Before Lee Cronin’s 2023 standalone sequel toSam Raimi’sEvil Deadmovies, the franchise had already been rebooted once in 2013. The underrated 2013 remake/reboot,Evil Dead, was helmed by Fede Álvarez, who recently rebooted another classic horror franchise with 2024’s hit standalone sequelAlien: Romulus. However,Cronin’s 2023Evil Deadmovie took the franchise in a very new direction, which paid off with substantial critical acclaim and a record-breaking box officereturn.
Following its streaming success on Max, Warner Bros.’Evil Dead Risecomes to Netflix for the first time on August 22, 2025. The movie originally hit theaters in April 2023, withEvil Dead Rise’s small castbeing led by Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan, Morgan Davies, Grabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher.Evil Dead Risealso boasts a hidden cameo fromThe Evil Dead’s Ash Williams actor Bruce Campbell, making for an exciting entry in the 1981-debuting series. Afterearning an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score and over $147 million at the box office, the sequel’s triumphs are expected to continue on Netflix.
ThefifthEvil Deadmoviearrives on Netflix this September, allowing the film to reach a new group of viewers while also enjoying rewatches from fans of the 2023 horror hit. Directed and written by Lee Cronin,Evil Dead Riseiscentered on the character of Beth (Sullivan), who decides to visit her older sister, Ellie (Sutherland), and Ellie’s childrenDanny (Davies), Bridget (Echols), and Kassie (Fisher) after discovering she’s pregnant. However, Danny accidentally unleashes ancient evil forces from the Necronimicon when finding old vinyl records in their apartment building, which soon turns Ellie, among others, into a demonic Deadite.
Two additionalEvil Deadspinoff movies are in development followingEvil Dead Rise’s success.
AsAlyssa Sutherland’s demonic Ellieattempts to manipulate and kill her family, Beth takes up the role of protecting the children and trying to figure out how to defeat the Deadites and escape the Los Angeles apartment building.Evil Dead Rise’s location is a notorious departure from the franchise’s typical setting, as mostEvil Deadmovies are set in cabins in the woods. However, the 2023 standalone sequel does make use of this tradition by including the location during its opening scene, with its connection to Beth’s story being revealed inEvil Dead Rise’s ending.
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The gore and terror of Lee Cronin’s movie is on par with Álvarez’s brutal, bloody outingEvil Dead, withEvil Dead Rise’s gruesome cheese grater momentbeing among the film’s biggest talking points.Evil Dead Risealso balances some of the campy humor that helped define Sam Raimi’s originalEvil Dead trilogy, ensuring to pay homage to the classic entries that came before. At its heart,Evil Dead Riseis a campy, horrific story about family, motherhood, responsibility, and sacrifice, with the effects of the Deadites andNecronomicon Ex-Mortisraising the stakes through gallons upon gallons of blood and gore.
Evil Dead Riseboasts impressive reviews from critics and audiences alike, holding a “Certified Fresh” 84% score from critics and 76% score from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.Much of the praise forEvil Dead Risesurrounds its horrific gore, scares, and intense terror, making for an entertaining watch while delivering exactly the type of horror that long-timeEvil Deadfans expect from a new movie. Positive reviews also praisedEvil Dead Rise’s expansions to the franchise’s lore by introducing new monsters, revealing past encounters with Deadites, and still leaving room for more mysteries to be solved in future installments.
Similar to horror movies likeAbigail,Ready or Not, andCabin in the Woods,Evil Dead Risehumorously turns up the gore to full volume for an extremely fun viewing. While there is plenty of dark humor inEvil Dead Rise, primarily in the more absurd lines from Deadite Ellie, it doesn’t indulge itself in the franchise’s signature goofy humor as much as theBruce Campbell-ledThe Evil Dead,Evil Dead II,Army of Darkness, andAsh vs Evil Deadentries. This may be part of why the Rotten Tomatoes score is in the mid-80s instead of the 90s.
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Lee Cronin’sEvil Dead Riseranks as thethird-highest-rated movie in theEvil Deadseries.Evil Dead Rise’s 84% score falls behindEvil Dead II’s 88% rating andThe Evil Dead’s 86% rating, but surpasses the 68% rating forArmy of Darknessand the 63% rating forEvil Dead. ConsideringEvil Dead Risehad greater reviews than bothArmy of Darkness, Sam Raimi’s last entry, andEvil Dead, Álvarez’s divisive remake, Cronin’s movie was seen as a welcome return to form for the franchise.
86%
$2.9 million
88%
$5.9 million
68%
$11.5 million
63%
$97.5 million
84%
$147 million
Not only didEvil Dead Riseprove that the franchise can succeed without Bruce Campbell’s presence being a selling point, but it also gave more hope for theEvil Deadseries to continue with more spinoffs in the future. Expanding on its success,Evil Dead Risebecame the highest-grossing movie of the franchise in 2023.Evil Dead Riseearned $147 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $19 million (viaDeadline), surpassing initial projections while going up againstbox office behemoths likeThe Super Mario Bros. Movieand the tail ofJohn Wick 4’s theatrical stint.
Evil Dead’s New Spinoff Movie Has A Huge Challenge After $147 Million Sequel From Last Year
An all-new Evil Dead spinoff movie has just been announced, but Evil Dead Rise creates a major problem for the lore of the upcoming film.
Evil Dead Risealso became the firstEvil Deadmovie to make over $100 million at the box office.Evil Dead(2013) came close after earning $97.5 million, with1981’sThe Evil Deadearning a total of $2.9 million, 1987’sEvil Dead IImaking $5.9 million, and 1992’sArmy of Darknesshaving an $11.5 million box office haul (viaBox Office Mojo). Of course, it’s important to note that theoriginalThe Evil Deadmovie had a budgetof only $375,000.
Evil Dead Riseis an inspiring case of a horror franchise reboot having both critical and commercial success without the return of any major established characters. WhileBruce Campbell has a voice cameo, which may or may not include him playing Ash, it’s a tough-to-notice detail and wasn’t a big draw for the movie. This is similar to 2024’sAlien: Romulus, which technically has no original characters and has recorded over $229 million at the box officeand counting since premiering on August 16 while holding an 80% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Ultimately,Evil Dead Riseis a great holistic example of recent horror franchise reboots gone right.
Evil Dead Rise’s success is also comparable toRadio Silence’sScreamreboot movies, which both achieved great box office success and critical acclaim. While they did also have some legacy characters returning, the 2022 and 2023Screammovies proved that running from Ghostface could still succeed with new characters and traumatic family motivations.Evil Dead Risewas also arguably a bigger success than Blumhouse’s 2023The Exorcistreboot movie and 2024’sThe First Omen prequel, which had varying responses with box office and reviews. Ultimately,Evil Dead Riseis a great holistic example of recent horror franchise reboots gone right.
Evil Dead Rise
Cast
The Evil Dead franchise continues with Evil Dead Rise, a dark fantasy/horror film written and directed by Lee Cronin. This fifth entry in the Evil Dead named series follows two sisters, played by Alyssa Sutherland and Lily Sullivan, as they attempt to survive a demonic assault from a Deadite. Beth (Sullivan) heads on a road trip to visit her sister Ellie (Sutherland) and her children. However, when the Necronomicon is discovered in Ellie’s L.A. apartment building, the Deadites rise back from their demonic realm and begin to bring hell back to earth once again. Evil Dead Rise, initially an HBO Max streaming exclusive, instead arrived in theaters on August 23, 2025.
Evil Dead
Created by Sam Raimi, Evil Dead is a horror-comedy franchise that began with the release of the original film, The Evil Dead, in 1981. The series follows protagonist Ashley “Ash” Williams as he and his friends venture into a cabin for a vacation only to discover it harbors a demonic book that can summon terrifying creatures known as Deadites, hell-bent on torturing and slaying them all. As the series progresses, Ash becomes more of a masculine B-movie action hero until the soft reboot helmed by Eli Roth occurs, which shifts the franchise deeper into its horror roots.
