Studio 666
I guess this is the closest thing we’re getting to a Foo Fighters biopic.
Cast of Characters:
Dave Grohl – Himself
Nate Mendel – Himself
Pat Smear – Himself
Taylor Hawkins – Himself
Chris Shiflett – Himself
Rami Jaffee – Himself
Samantha – Whitney Cummings
Barb Weems – Leslie Grossman
Delivery Guy – Will Forte
Dream Widow – Jenna Ortega
Jeremy Shill – Jeff Garlin
Director – B. J. McDonnell
Writer – Jeff Buhler & Rebecca Hughes
Producer – John Ramsey & James A. Rota
Distributor – Open Road Films & Briarcliff Entertainment
Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, pervasive language, and sexual content.
The Rundown: The Foo Fighters are getting ready to record their tenth album, and time is ticking down for them to get it done. Their label owner, Jeremy Shill (Jeff Garlin) is breathing down their neck to hurry up and produce a new hit for him to push, but there’s just one problem – frontman Dave Grohl (Himself) has been hit with a wicked bout of writer’s block, and is need of inspiration. They’ve done it all in every studio and need a new location to get those creative juices flowing again. As Grohl tells Shill, maybe they can follow Zeppelin’s lead “where they went to that castle with all the wizards and dragons and shit”.
Desperate for them to get the job done already, Shill grants the band their request and sends them off to a mysterious Encino mansion with a checkered past to record album #10. However, right from the start, Grohl senses a sinister presence from within, and when a little investigating leads to his creative demons being taken over by actual demons, the rest of the band finds not only the completion of the album threatened, but their very lives threatened as well.
It’s probably Courtney Love.
Pre-Release Buzz: If there was any silver lining provided to Dave Grohl during the pandemic it’s that the downtime allowed him to further develop Studio 666, his demonic possession-based story which was inspired by the band’s experiences recording their tenth album Medicine at Midnight. Set on location at the same house they recorded their tenth album, Grohl looked to writers Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train, 2019’s Pet Sematary) and Rebecca Hughes (TV’s Grounded for Life and Cracked Up) to flesh out a script and Hatchet III filmmaker B. J. McDonnell to direct.
Despite inevitable production shutdowns and delays over the course of the COVID pandemic, Studio 666 was able to wrap and has finally made its way to the big screen. Of course, this could go one of two ways – we could get another A Hard Day’s Night or Help!, or we could get another Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Not the album… the movie.
…
That damn movie.
Just saying, you know it’s a dumpster fire when even the “Quiet Beatle” couldn’t avoid commenting on how embarrassing it was.
The Good: Studio 666 is a good example of executing the “keep it simple, stupid” method well. In comparison to other bloody horror comedies, it doesn’t have the wry, cheeky humor and editing brilliance of Shaun of the Dead, nor Tucker & Dale vs. Evil’s clever use of the “unreliable narrator”; however, this is more in the vein of the late ’50s, early ’60s-era William Castle spook-fests like House on Haunted Hill and 13 Ghosts and works as a fun, campy ode to those B-movie classics.
Director B. J. McDonnell may not have the horror genre cachet of Wes Craven or John Carpenter (who not only cameos here, but also composed the film’s very Carpenter-esque theme song), but his own experiences behind the camera make him a fitting choice for this project. Having worked on both the Hatchet horror comedy franchise and a handful of music videos by Slayer and Exodus (Slayer guitarist Kerry King also cameos in this film), McDonnell knows both self-aware horror and rock/heavy metal music and merges the two in comically brutal fashion. That’s also extra emphasis on the brutal, as makeup effects maestro Tony Gardner serves up some killer practical gore effects that proves they weren’t looking to cheap out where it matters most despite the film’s obvious low-budget leanings. Consider Gardner’s excellent work the film’s real MVP, and if creative killings are your jam, then you most definitely won’t be disappointed, especially during a wickedly nasty moment involving a chainsaw while Jackyl’s “The Lumberjack” blasts away in the background.
No one in their right mind is gonna be going into this expecting thespian craftsmanship from a cast consisting of mostly non-actors. Thankfully, McDonnell completely understands that and works within the band members’ limits to draw out serviceable performances from them. To be fair, each is playing a one-note, fictionalized caricature of themselves – Hawkins as the chill bro, Jaffee as the hippie mystic and Mendel as the quiet one who barely speaks until near the end ’cause I guess he’s the bass player and that’s just how they roll. So it’s not like they’re having to go out of their comfort zone in stretching the acting muscles they may not have, though Pat Smear is actually pretty good in a few moments that require him to deliver some panicked screams. No, I’m not saying the band should quit their day job and pursue a career in acting, but we also could’ve instead gotten a whole lot of onscreen cringe like Spice World.
All that said about the band, Dave Grohl delivers a gloriously hammy performance that’s great. Having the most screen credits out of all the band members, Grohl feels perfectly at ease in front of the camera and brings that same dynamic energy we’ve seen him display both onscreen in music videos and on-stage to this film. This is most notably shown during a scene where, while possessed, he’s sounding out what he wants the rest of the band to play and comes off acting like a bugged-out charismatic preacher in the midst of a raging speaking in tongues fit. Even if the film’s comedy ain’t punching it up to eleven quite like the horror set pieces are, much of the humor here still works due to his ability to sell the gag.
It also should be noted, that Jenna Ortega briefly appears in this film following her supporting turn in last month’s Scream. This now marks the second time in just a little over a month where she’s stalked by a vicious killer during the intro. Fingers crossed and prayers sent out to her with her slasher film X opening next month.
The Bad: The film’s faults are found mostly during the third-act when the film’s pacing begins to drag. There’s a really good 85-90 minute film packed inside a 106 minute film that’s just good. That might sound like an odd critique to make if it’s still good, but the film could’ve been better if it didn’t stretch its third-act out into what feels like an additional fourth-act that shows up when you think it’s all done. I get what Grohl, Buhler and Hughes are trying to go for there, which seems like an attempt to tie the story back to the beginning, yet, while that’s not inherently a bad idea, a leaner, tighter way of going about it would’ve been more ideal.
Also, for a film that’s very aware of it’s simple and ultra-violent silliness, it gets a little too caught up in all the exposition surrounding the haunted home’s backstory and a mysterious evil book. Like I said before with the “keep it simple, stupid” method, the film is at its best when it’s locked-in on the band’s genuine camaraderie, their music and the demonic shenanigans that pits Grohl against the five other members. When it’s focused on that, the film is enthusiastically clicking on all cylinders, so all the expository segments end up feeling like extraneous narrative weight that periodically hampers the film’s giddy momentum.
The Ugly: Brace yourself for the gnarliest sex scene you’ll ever witness.
Consensus: Despite some uneven pacing and a final-act that stretches itself out a bit longer than it should, Studio 666 is a solid homage to B-movie, midnight horror camp thanks to some first-rate practical gore effects and Dave Grohl’s spirited, go-for-broke performance.
Silver Screen Fanatic’s Verdict: I give Studio 666 a B (★★★).
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