STUDIO 666: Foo Fighter Frightners

There’s bit of charm to Studio 666 for being the Foo Fighters horror movie. There’s the meta nature of having the band playing themselves with chummy commentary on their skills. It’s also quite the sight to watch Dave Grohl transform into a demon.

However, this is a movie with a tongue so firm in its cheek that one could almost completely miss its B-movie staging. The acting is off, the supernatural lore gets a bit convoluted, and the ultimate allegorical resolve feels a bit hallow. With all things considered, though, there are still some bursts of brilliance in this merging of music, showbiz, the supernatural, and gore.

The Frustrated Foo Fighters

The players of Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee) all play themselves, struggling to release a new album. Dave, aiming for something big, wants to find something special that’ll make the recording special. He doesn’t know what it is yet but his spark of creativity feels lacking.

The frustrated producer Jeremy Shill (Jeff Garlin) grows impatient but promises Grohl the perfect place to find inspiration. He hooks the Foo Fighters up with a unique mansion to record within. The estate was home a murder and upon entering, the band members can feel a certain eeriness to the setting.

A Haunted House of Horrors

While the songwriting goes slow, Grohl finds himself exploring more of the house. Venturing down to the basement, he finds some pretty dark stuff. There are some spooky demo tapes, an eerie smoke, and a vivisected raccoon. But what he discovers most prominently is a tune. The ultimate tune. It’s just what he needs to finish the record.

However, Dave is too bound by inspiration to notice that his vying for the best rock has led to a deal with a demon. The anxious neighbor played by Whitney Cummings at first seems like an obnoxious fan but later reveals she’s a bit of a warrior against the demonic. It’s up to her and the unwittingly dumbfounded member of Foo Fighters to pull Grohl back from the dark void.

Ridiculously Terrible Acting

I’ll be honest; the Foo Fighters make for terrible actors. They have all the ease and grace of guest stars on a Scooby-Doo episode. The saving grace here is that they’re asked to play the easiest roles they can muster: themselves.

Of course, Grohl is no stranger to the camera and he’s by far the best of the band in terms of acting. He’s called upon to not only be a tortured artist but a man who turns evil and does so with gusto. I almost have to wonder if he’s intentionally trying to ham up a few scenes to be on the same level with his band members. The easier answer is that he’s just playing up to the strengths of this picture being more of a B-movie thing anything more.

Consider how Pat Smear plays himself as a guy who loves food so much he sleeps in the kitchen. His many scenes feel awkward as he struggles to muster emotion, almost appearing as though he’s holding back the laughter for his many scenes. That terrible acting would be a hindrance if it weren’t for the fact that such a picture is mostly played up for laughs.

The Absurd Supporting Cast

Thankfully, there’s some solid supporting performances. I loved the perkiness that turns into sternness with Whitney Cummings. She makes for a decent enough vessel of exposition and does her best to eat up scenes where she embarrasses herself in front of Grohl.

Will Forte also pops up as a delivery driver who really wants to give Grohl his demo tape. His scenes are brief but he does the best with the scenes he’s given and gets in a great death scene. Garlin also puts forth an extra dose of sneer to his role as a greedy producer. It’s also hilarious watching him in the darkly violent climax with is literally just him and Grohl kicking each other in the balls.

There are also some brilliant meta jokes as well, relating to both the band and pop culture. One of the most hilarious moments finds a distraught Dave playing the music of another artist to find his tune. The artist then appears in the form of a spirit and tells him to knock it off with the plagiarization. The acting during this particular scene is spot-on for taking a bit more of a vicious and surreal approach to celebrities, as though they can astral-project to enforce copyright law.

Goofy Gore

While the acting is strictly B-movie, the violent special effects are by far the highlight. The slaughter of various characters isn’t afraid to get gooey and gross. One of the best moments of gross-out gore features one band member making love in bed while a chainsaw cuts him and his lover in half with a chainsaw from under the bed.

There are lots of blood, vomiting, and guts on display in this grotesque horror picture, better showcasing the charm that went into such a picture. The many decapitations are quite graphic and shocking, especially one performed with a drum cymbal. You may also be surprised just how high the body count rises for such a picture in its intense third act.

Conclusion: Studio 666

There’s enough self-deprecating and decapitating humor present in Studio 666 to make for a bloody fun meta-horror. If you’re willing to go along with all its winking and ribbing of rock culture, there’s a certain B-movie charm amid its awkward attempts acting and a dark showcase of supernatural terror.

It’s worth watching if, for nothing else, watching Dave Grohl turn into a demonic force who slaughters for music and vomits up blood. To be honest, that should be enough of a selling point to slap it on the poster.

Did you see Studio 666? Was it funny or not? Did Dave Grohl give a good performance? Let us know in the comments below.

Studio 666 is currently playing in movie theaters.

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