Studio 666 (2022)

By: Mike Ward on Friday, February 25

R Running Time: 105 mins

SHOULD I SEE IT?

YES

  • Foo Fighters fans have been waiting for the band’s first foray into feature-film moviemaking, and horror comedy Studio 666 is highly anticipated among their fanbase.

  • Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters are definitely having a blast on screen.

  • Gory at times, some dry humor, nods and winks to various horror movie styles and tropes - Studio 666 has a little something for everyone watching.

NO

  • Be prepared - even if cartoonish and over-the-top, there are some gory sequences in Studio 666 people may not be ready for.

  • Not all vanity projects should be torn apart, but I don’t know why this was made to feature-film length status. This is a 30-35 minute movie at best, stretched almost interminably into 105 minutes.

  • Perhaps unintentionally, the movie sets up scene after scene which makes the point that the Foo Fighters are really just Dave Grohl carrying the water for himself and five other bandmates. That couldn’t have been the point here, right?


OUR REVIEW

There is a youthful exuberance that has always been present with Dave Grohl. As a member of both Nirvana and Foo Fighters, he has grown from grunge rock drummer to band founder to band collaborator to rock icon to a 16-time Grammy winner and two-time member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

His charisma is unmistakable and evident in several of Foo Fighters’ music videos. He is one of the most well-liked people in the entertainment industry. And in that regard, it is kind of amazing that outside of appearing in a few documentaries (as well as directing one), and the occasional cameo here and there, Grohl’s appearances in the movies have been relatively scant and non-existent.

With Studio 666, we now have a vehicle that allows Grohl to not only star in a movie, but pretty much take over a cheeky, silly, gory bloodbath imagining his Foo Fighters bandmates renting a house to record their 10th album. As a film property, there is definite dedication in making this fun and great, even if the execution and delivery of the final product leaves a lot to be desired.

Opening with a gruesome prologue that sets the stage for the horrors set to unfold, Studio 666 finds Grohl grappling with a sense of writer’s block. A roundtable meeting in the band’s manager’s office generates no inspiration, until manager Jeffrey Shill (Jeff Garlin) calls up a strange realtor (Leslie Grossman), who takes them on a tour of an Encino, California mansion. 

With the band portraying themselves, Grohl and band arrive at the house and feel unsettled. Grohl asks his fellow Foos whether they are getting a strange vibe of death in this house. Soon, however, despite seeing alarming visions whenever he claps his hands, he realizes the acoustics are pretty solid, envisions how they can take over the house to record, and tells the realtor they’re moving in.

From there, the Foo Fighters roll through a supernatural, horror comedy that is amusing for a little while, but is simply far too long at 105 minutes. Directed by BJ McDonnell (Hatchet III), the screenplay by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes (based on a story concept from Grohl), perhaps inadvertently makes clear that when thinking of Foo Fighters, there is Dave Grohl…and everyone else. 

The film just labors, McDonnell not able to pace this thing effectively and fails to understand how to draw out the best from his unpolished actors. Oftentimes, the bits are set up so Grohl can just shout and overreact to things and that grows wearisome really quickly.

Grohl dominates the film, and likely he needs to, as he has some acting chops that work well within this blood-soaked funhouse of horror images, mutilated corpses, and jump scares. But the premise is repetitive, relying on Grohl becoming possessed by a supernatural entity that connects the present to the past, and means Foo Fighters band members are in perilous danger and may not survive making the album.

For the first half hour, you expect Grohl and folks to break the fourth wall and nod and wink to the camera. In later scenes, guitarist Pat Smear steals the show simply from his reactions and matter-of-fact line readings.

Personally, I am a huge fan of Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl - they have carried the rock and roll flag everywhere they have gone for years, even as rock and roll music, in general, has been relegated to a mere handful of radio stations and, in its purest form, has been left behind as alternative, pop, EDM, country, and hip-hop has long since surpassed it in terms of popularity.

So it is unfortunate Studio 666 doesn’t work. In reality, this should be about a 30-35 minute bonus feature on a Foo Fighters Blu-Ray or DVD release. Or maybe it should live as a low-price download on the band’s website or, even better yet, bundled together with an album sale or ticket purchase. 

Though it can mostly hold your attention, many of the cameos deflate. Slayer guitarist Kerry King notwithstanding, a random series of guests including Whitney Cummings, Lionel Richie, Will Forte, and Jenna Ortega all underwhelm, unable to make meaningful anything they are asked to do. Even a John Carpenter appearance and co-write on the film’s theme fails to leave much of a lasting impact.

For us, as viewers, we are left with a series of scenes consisting of over-the-top gore and violence, a car-crash of various horror genres and tropes, and flatlining humor. A few moments are fun, and the band is indeed having a blast. In final form however, Studio 666 seems to only really exist for Grohl and company to amuse themselves and some of their most devoted fans.

CAST & CREW

Starring: Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, Whitney Cummings, Will Forte, Jeff Garlin, Leslie Grossman, Kerry King, Jenna Ortega, Marti Matulis, Lionel Richie, Jimmi Simpson

Director: BJ McDonnell
Written by: Jeff Buhler, Rebecca Hughes (screenplay); Dave Grohl (story)
Release Date: February 25, 2022
Open Road Films