PLOT: Hoping to capture a unique sound for their tenth album, the rock band Foo Fighters make the mistake of setting up in a mansion where terrible things happened decades earlier. Evil spirits are unleashed and blood is spilled.
REVIEW: When the rock band Foo Fighters were looking for somewhere to record their tenth album, they ended up in a secluded villa in Encino because they found that the living room had amazing acoustics. Strange occurrences soon led the band to believe that the place was haunted, so they finished that album as quickly as possible. They can’t give all the details on what happened there because they signed a non-disclosure agreement with the landlord… but their experience in that place did inspire them to make the horror comedy Studio 666, a fictionalized account of what happened during the recording of their tenth album.
The second film from director BJ McDonnell, who made his feature directorial debut with 2013’s Hatchet III, Studio 666 takes place in a reality where Foo Fighters haven’t yet made a tenth album, and their manager (played by Jeff Garlin) is putting some serious pressure on them to get it done. Looking to capture a unique sound for the album, they choose a secluded mansion where terrible things happened back in the early ’90s. We’re shown some of the horrible events right up front: much like the new Scream movie, Studio 666 begins with actress Jenna Ortega being attacked and dragging herself across a floor in an attempt to escape. She has a lot less screen time in this one than she had in Scream. But does a place’s history matter when the acoustics are so good?
Yes, as it turns out, it is very important to take a location’s history into account. In a scene reminiscent of The Evil Dead, lead singer Dave Grohl goes into the cellar and discovers a reel-to-reel tape recorder left by the previous band that tried to make an album in this place, plus a book bound in flesh and filled with demonic incantations conjured up by Aleister Crowley. Evil spirits are unleashed. More terrible things happen, this time to the six guys who make up Foo Fighters. A name that feels very weird to say without a “The” in front of, but there is no “The”. It’s just Foo Fighters.
I went into Studio 666 thinking it was just going to be a goof, a quick and bloody piece of nonsense. And sure, it’s nonsensical regardless, but it’s much more of a “real movie” than I was expecting. Screenwriters Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes crafted a lot of scenes for the band members to act their way through. There is a large portion of time dedicated to their struggle to come up with new music and find an ending to the epic song that the demonically-inspired Grohl has them putting together. In fact, there’s a bit too much movie here. Studio 666 hits a running time of 101 minutes before the end credits start rolling, and it could have lost some of those minutes along the way. There are even multiple endings; what could have worked as a satisfying conclusion is followed by several more minutes because there are loose ends to wrap up.
This was sold on the idea of Grohl getting possessed and rampaging his way through his bandmates, but the story takes its time getting there. Foo Fighters fans who want to see the full band together will be satisfied for more than half of the movie.
As for how the musicians do as movie stars, I was pleasantly surprised. The comedy element certainly helped them, but they do about as well as I would have expected any actors to do in a movie like this, and some of them – Grohl especially – turn out to be hilarious comedic performers. They are joined by some more experienced comedic actors, in addition to Garlin there’s also Whitney Cummings and Will Forte, but the band members have a lot more to do than those supporting cast members and deliver a lot more of the comedy.
There’s some good stuff in here to keep horror fans entertained as well. There’s the Evil Dead nods, McDonnell delivers the level of gore you’d expect from the director of Hatchet III (and while there are some CGI enhancements, there are also some really cool practical effects), and there’s even a cameo appearance by John Carpenter, who composed the theme track!
Studio 666 is a bit too long, but it provides a fun viewing experience anyway, and you get the sense that Foo Fighters had a blast making it. Their fans will probably have a blast watching it as well, if they’re into horror and gore. If you’re not a Foo Fighters fan, I can vouch for the fact that you can still have a good time with their movie. I’ve heard the band’s big hits, but have never listened to a full album. When I watched the trailer for this, I didn’t even know whether or not half of the band members shown in the trailer were actually in the band. But my lack of familiarity with Foo Fighters didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the movie at all.
Studio 666 is getting a wide theatrical release starting today, February 25th.
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