In the spirit of films like Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny or Yellow Submarine, director BJ McDonnell (Hatchet III) and the Foo Fighters teamed up to release Studio 666, a new horror comedy film starring the legendary rock band as themselves. Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl wrote the story, and the film was penned for the screen by Jeff Buhler (Pet Semetary – 2019, The Midnight Meat Train) and Rebecca Hughes. Aside from the band, Studio 666 also stars Jeff Garlin (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Will Forte (Sweet Tooth), and Jenna Ortega (Scream – 2022, X).
The film follows Dave Grohl and his fellow Foo Fighters dealing with severe writer’s block combined with the financial pressures from their manager Jeremy Shill (Garlin) to release a new album. The band moves into a mansion with a dark history, hoping to spark some inspiration. During the writing process, Grohl listens to the demo of a band that previously occupied the house, headed by a murderous frontman, and becomes possessed by a demon attached to the house. Thus begins a tumultuous battle between Grohl and the rest of the Foo Fighters, who must choose between saving the frontman’s soul or making the best damn rock album there ever was.
First and foremost, Studio 666 is one of those films you must go into with the quality expectations of “it’s here for a good time, not a long time”. If you check it out expecting some deeply elevated horror film (and I’m not sure why you would), you will be disappointed. If you go into it expecting a self-aware and cheesy horror comedy made by a bunch of dudes who just wanted to make a movie, you’ll find something that’s maybe a little special. If you’re a fan of the band, even more so.
Upon the trailer release, many people thought the comedy in Studio 666 would be on the same level as something by Tenacious D. The difference here is that Jack Black is one of the best comedic actors of all time. The Foo Fighters are a group of musicians, not a group of actors. Much of the conversational comedy fell flat, though Jeff Garlin, Will Forte, and a surprising cameo by Lionel Richie helped it along. Some of the deeper music-related comedy caught me by pleasant surprise. For example, a Friday the 13th-esque sex scene where a demonic Dave Grohl is hiding under the bed and takes out two birds with one stone in a gory chainsaw slaughtering, while Jackyl’s “Lumberjack” blasts from a nearby radio. As someone familiar with Jackyl’s affinity for chainsaws, this was a fantastic scene.
Since we’re on the subject, you can’t have a movie about a famous rock band without a killer soundtrack. Even aside from some great oldies and new jams from Foo Fighters, the film perfectly matched up with some excellent song choices from Gojira, Slayer, Motörhead, and more. As a Foo Fighters fan, it was great to see the group jamming on screen, but equally as sad with the recent sudden and unfortunate passing of drummer Taylor Hawkins.
Looking strictly at the horror elements of Studio 666, it was a blast. Though there was plenty of expected low-budget CG blood, there was an unexpected amount of gruesome and gory practical effects, including decapitations, burn suits, and intestinal eating. The story wasn’t anything grand, but it did just enough to both keep my attention and bring me back to some of my favorite ‘80s heavy metal horror films, like Black Roses and Hard Rock Zombies, which felt like inspirations for this film.
Studio 666 may not be a “great” film, but it isn’t every day that we get to see a group of best friends come together to make a horror movie and clearly have a blast doing it. Sometimes, the good things in life feel overshadowed by the hard times. For me and any other fans of Foo Fighters, and for a band that just recently lost a brother, Studio 666 is a great reminder that, in reality, the good times in life far outweigh the bad times.
