Review: Studio 666 Is A Hard Day’s Night Getting Skullf***ed by Evil Dead
You love the goddamn Foo Fighters. They’re a little like you. These are things you know deep in your marrow, like the way you know that the sun will rise and that a candy bar should cost a dollar. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood caught on to this universal truth. And that’s what Studio 666, the band’s new horror movie, is – a celebration of how everyone thinks, deep down, that the Foo Fighters should just make a Scooby Doo. That it’d be relatable, and fun. And guess what, it’s a ton of fun.
As you’ve probably already pieced together, Studio 666 is about the band Foo Fighters, led by their expressive and hard-drinking frontman Dave Grohl, moving into a mysterious Hollywood mansion in order to record their overdue 10th album. Unfortunately, Dave has writer’s block — until he finds a metal album in the basement that gets his creative juices flowing. Problem is, it also results in his demonic possession, and soon America’s favorite rock star is murdering his bandmates left and right.
The beauty of this film is its simplicity. There isn’t even an attempt to make this an original tale – it’s a haunted house story meets a band story. That’s what the movie does so well – it gives you a basic structure to work with and a lighthearted crew to watch. We all know where it’s going, and that’s okay, because sometimes you just want a really long music video. You’re excited to see Dave Grohl and these other, perhaps slightly less expressive rock dudes have a gnarly time with some gory ghost bullshit.
It helps that the metal is cool. After Dave gets possessed, his music sounds like High On Fire, which shows a certain level of legitimacy that a different musician couldn’t pull off. A huge part of Studio 666‘s effectiveness is that the rock and roll elements feel real in a way that it’d be so easy to fake and fuck up. You’re in good hands with the Foo Fighters. Who’re their cameos? Kerry King and John Carpenter? Awesome, they get it.
This extends to the production. There are so many bad movies like this, poorly shot and underfunded. But Studio 666 looks and feels like a real movie, albeit a blood-soaked and goofy one. Not only is it well-shot and decently scored, but it’s also got a level of acting and direction that its peers lack. The Foo Fighters aren’t exactly geniuses, but they have fun being themselves, and they do just that while watching Dave have his demonic meltdown. The other characters in the film exist to push the story along, yeah, but they do that admirably.
We’ll also say this, man – everyone’s drinking a lot in this flick. We know that Dave’s bar talents are legendary, but all throughout the movie, the whole band are sucking down beers like it’s their job. Dave himself often has a whiskey next to him. It’s definitely a move, letting the world know that even though they’re beloved by all, the Foo Fighters’ process still involves considerable boozing (and bedding fine-ass Whitney Cummings).
But maybe that’s the point of this whole movie: only Foo Fighters can pull a flick like this off. Billie Eilish made a Disney-animated love letter to LA, Kanye West made a self-aggrandizing documentary, but Foo Fighters made a satanic slasher romp in which a couple get chainsawed in half mid-coitus while Jackyl plays in the background. Any other band and this demonic murder spree would come off as either bizarre or tasteless. But with Foo Fighters, it’s okay. They’re fun enough for the cartoonishness, but gritty enough for the dismemberment and the hard drinking and the blowjob jokes. It’s all rock and roll.
Will Studio 666 change how you think about horror movies? Not even slightly. Will it scare the pants off of you? Not a chance. Is it a well-written good time played out by an endlessly-charming group of rock stars? Is it a perfect Halloween movie? Absolutely. With this film, the band have made it clear that they can do whatever they want, and it won’t just be presentable, it’ll be good. You’ll actually enjoy it. Because why wouldn’t you? You love the fucking Foo Fighters.
Studio 666 comes out in theaters on Friday, February 25th.
