Film

The Most Underrated R-Rated Horror Reboot Of 21st Century Is Losing Free Streaming Home Right Before 2026 Franchise Return

1 February 2026

Already one of the most underrated horror reboots of the 21st century, Evil Dead is now about to be without a streaming home.

Co-written and directed by future Alien: Romulus mastermind Fede Álvarez, the 2013 film served as a soft reboot and continuation of Sam Raimi’s horror cult classic. Led by Jane Levy, the story centered on a group of college friends who venture up to a cabin in the woods in order to support Mia through clearing her heroin addiction, only to discover the ancient book known as the Naturom Demonto that unleashes a demonic force.

Now, nearly 13 years after it hit theaters, Evil Dead is about to lose its free streaming home. The film had been available to watch for free with ads on Tubi, but will no longer be available on the platform beginning January 31. The horror reboot will now only be available to watch via purchase or rental on digital platforms.

Serving as the first in the franchise not to be helmed by Raimi or led by Bruce Campbell as Ash, 2013’s Evil Dead initially saw something of a mixed response from both critics and audiences, with the main division being the more directly terrifying approach to the formula than the darkly humorous one of the originals. However, the years since have shown franchise fans warm up to the movie and often call for the original plan of a sequel and crossover with Ash to come to fruition.

In spite of its mixed reception, the 2013 reboot is still one of the most vital installments in the franchise. For starters, it successfully revived the Evil Dead property after a 20-year hiatus, with its $97.5 million box office haul setting a new high for the franchise at the time. This not only gave producers the confidence to begin pitching further ventures, including the aforementioned scrapped sequel and Ash vs. Evil Dead series.

More notably, it also paved the way for non-Ash-focused stories in the Evil Dead franchise, which is currently the primary plan for Raimi and Campbell in their producorial roles. After the cancellation of their acclaimed series, this resumed with 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, which set a new franchise record at the box office with its $146 million gross.

Which is also part of what makes Evil Dead‘s free streaming exit a surprise, as it comes right before the release of the franchise’s next entry, Evil Dead Burn. Another standalone tale in the series, Sébastien Vaniček’s installment, the second to be released by New Line Cinema after Rise, is set to hit theaters on July 24. Given the unlikelihood of the pair of films being connected beyond their general universe, the 2013 reboot might not be necessary viewing going into Vaniček’s.

Evil Dead Movies In Order & Timeline

Watching the Evil Dead movies in order can be difficult because the Sam Raimi horror franchise has a confusing timeline, but we break it down here.

That being said, even with Evil Dead Rise, writer/director Lee Cronin snuck in plenty of Easter eggs for the wider franchise that, while not making prior movies necessary watches, still made the larger knowledge rewarding for those who saw them. Between the explanation of multiple Books of the Dead existing, thus seemingly confirming Mia’s story as being set in a different cabin from Ash’s, and the potential appearance of Ash in an audio recording from the early 1900s, the 2023 film found a way to keep everything as canonical.

However, with there still being five months until the next film hits theaters, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility of Álvarez’s Evil Dead to find a new streaming home before Burn‘s release. Even before the 2013 film’s Tubi exit, the franchise hasn’t shared a singular streaming platform in quite some time, with the ever-changing rights to Raimi’s first two installments seeing it on everywhere from The Roku Channel to Netflix, while Army of Darkness is currently without a home, Ash is on Starz and The Roku Channel, and Rise is on HBO Max. Plus, with the pure passion franchise fans have, a push from them could see multiple streamers’ interest piqued.