Netflix’s horror movie catalog is growing in September 2024 with the addition of Evil Dead Rise, one of the strongest horror franchise reboots in recent years. Before Lee Cronin’s 2023 standalone sequel to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead movies, 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 sequel Alien: Romulus. However, Cronin’s 2023 Evil Dead movie took the franchise in a very new direction, which paid off with substantial critical acclaim and a record-breaking box office return.
Following its streaming success on Max, Warner Bros.’ Evil Dead Rise comes to Netflix for the first time on September 23, 2024. The movie originally hit theaters in April 2023, with Evil Dead Rise’s small cast being led by Alyssa Sutherland, Lily Sullivan, Morgan Davies, Grabrielle Echols, and Nell Fisher. Evil Dead Rise also boasts a hidden cameo from The Evil Dead’s Ash Williams actor Bruce Campbell, making for an exciting entry in the 1981-debuting series. After earning an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score and over $147 million at the box office, the sequel’s triumphs are expected to continue on Netflix.
Evil Dead Rise Comes To Netflix On September 23 – What The Horror Movie Is About
Evil Dead Rise Takes The Sam Raimi Franchise In A New Direction
The fifth Evil Dead movie arrives 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 Rise is centered on the character of Beth (Sullivan), who decides to visit her older sister, Ellie (Sutherland), and Ellie’s children Danny (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 additional Evil Dead spinoff movies are in development following Evil Dead Rise's success.
As Alyssa Sutherland’s demonic Ellie attempts 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 most Evil Dead movies 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 in Evil 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 outing Evil Dead, with Evil Dead Rise’s gruesome cheese grater moment being among the film’s biggest talking points. Evil Dead Rise also balances some of the campy humor that helped define Sam Raimi’s original Evil Dead trilogy, ensuring to pay homage to the classic entries that came before. At its heart, Evil Dead Rise is a campy, horrific story about family, motherhood, responsibility, and sacrifice, with the effects of the Deadites and Necronomicon Ex-Mortis raising the stakes through gallons upon gallons of blood and gore.
Why Evil Dead Rise Has Such Great Reviews
Evil Dead Rise Provides A Fun Watch, Compelling Story & Authentic Evil Dead Experience
Evil Dead Rise boasts 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 for Evil Dead Rise surrounds its horrific gore, scares, and intense terror, making for an entertaining watch while delivering exactly the type of horror that long-time Evil Dead fans expect from a new movie. Positive reviews also praised Evil 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 like Abigail, Ready or Not, and Cabin in the Woods, Evil Dead Rise humorously turns up the gore to full volume for an extremely fun viewing. While there is plenty of dark humor in Evil 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 the Bruce Campbell-led The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, and Ash vs Evil Dead entries. This may be part of why the Rotten Tomatoes score is in the mid-80s instead of the 90s.
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How Evil Dead Rise's Box Office & Reviews Compare To The Other Evil Dead Movies
Evil Dead Rise Set The Franchise's Box Office Record
Lee Cronin’s Evil Dead Rise ranks as the third-highest-rated movie in the Evil Dead series. Evil Dead Rise’s 84% score falls behind Evil Dead II’s 88% rating and The Evil Dead’s 86% rating, but surpasses the 68% rating for Army of Darkness and the 63% rating for Evil Dead. Considering Evil Dead Rise had greater reviews than both Army of Darkness, Sam Raimi’s last entry, and Evil Dead, Álvarez’s divisive remake, Cronin’s movie was seen as a welcome return to form for the franchise.
Movie | Rotten Tomatoes Score | Box Office |
|---|---|---|
The Evil Dead (1981) | 86% | $2.9 million |
Evil Dead II (1987) | 88% | $5.9 million |
Army of Darkness (1992) | 68% | $11.5 million |
Evil Dead (2013) | 63% | $97.5 million |
Evil Dead Rise (2023) | 84% | $147 million |
Not only did Evil Dead Rise prove that the franchise can succeed without Bruce Campbell’s presence being a selling point, but it also gave more hope for the Evil Dead series to continue with more spinoffs in the future. Expanding on its success, Evil Dead Rise became the highest-grossing movie of the franchise in 2023. Evil Dead Rise earned $147 million worldwide against an estimated budget of $19 million (via Deadline), surpassing initial projections while going up against box office behemoths like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the tail of John Wick 4’s theatrical stint.
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Evil Dead Rise also became the first Evil Dead movie to make over $100 million at the box office. Evil Dead (2013) came close after earning $97.5 million, with 1981’s The Evil Dead earning a total of $2.9 million, 1987’s Evil Dead II making $5.9 million, and 1992’s Army of Darkness having an $11.5 million box office haul (via Box Office Mojo). Of course, it’s important to note that the original The Evil Dead movie had a budget of only $375,000.
How Evil Dead Rise's Success Compares To Other Recent Horror Franchise Reboots
Evil Dead Rise's Success Is Comparable To The Recent Scream & Alien Reboots
Evil Dead Rise is an inspiring case of a horror franchise reboot having both critical and commercial success without the return of any major established characters. While Bruce 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’s Alien: Romulus, which technically has no original characters and has recorded over $229 million at the box office and counting since premiering on August 16 while holding an 80% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Ultimately, Evil Dead Rise is a great holistic example of recent horror franchise reboots gone right.
Evil Dead Rise’s success is also comparable to Radio Silence’s Scream reboot movies, which both achieved great box office success and critical acclaim. While they did also have some legacy characters returning, the 2022 and 2023 Scream movies proved that running from Ghostface could still succeed with new characters and traumatic family motivations. Evil Dead Rise was also arguably a bigger success than Blumhouse’s 2023 The Exorcist reboot movie and 2024’s The First Omen prequel, which had varying responses with box office and reviews. Ultimately, Evil Dead Rise is a great holistic example of recent horror franchise reboots gone right.
Sources: Box Office Mojo, Deadline
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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 try 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 April 21, 2023.
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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.
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