While that is true they were at still one point wildly popular, Gone With the Wind adjusted for inflation is still the highest grossing movie of all time. A cult film is a film with a small passionate fanbase. Like Rocky Horror or Evil Dead. Films that might be found at midnight screenings or special screenings, ones that might even be interactive (both the prior films I mentioned have interactive screenings, I myself have been to interactive Evil Dead screening (and brought along two friends, one of which is a big horror fan, who had not heard of the film before). Let's be honest, Evil Dead does not have as large a fanbase as the films you mentioned (that is why the TV series was cancelled, look at it's ratings, if it were a huge series it would've kept going). To add further anecdotal sources (I know they don't really count but this is in regards to your initial point) having even spoken to many older movie goers all of them have heard of those larger films but when I mention the Evil Dead unless they are cinephiles or horror fanatics they have never heard of it.
To add some figures domestically the biggest in the franchise (not including the new one which I will mention later) was AoD which grossed $11.5m ($22m WW) and the biggest overall was ED which grossed $29.4m ($2.7m domestic). To an extent a success and launched Sam Raimi's career but if it were a studio film these figures are abysmal. Looking at the new one on a $17m budget it grossed $97m WW and $55m domestic, those figures aren't great, while it did make it's budget back and does bring talks for a sequel I would hardly say that is the figures for a big budget film, and I doubt all of that is due to Evil Dead fans, a large part would be due to new audience members. To further elaborate, Fight Club is considered a cult film, it grossed $100m WW without inflation.
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