Studio 666

This niche horror-comedy may be primarily aimed at existing fans of the Foo Fighters, but it’s a great schlocky B-movie that’s a tonne of fun in its own right.

Premise:  With their lead singer and songwriter Dave Grohl struggling with writer’s block, the Foo Fighters’ manager suggests they try a change of scenery to work on their next album.  Unfortunately, Dave moves them into an LA mansion which, unbeknownst to them, was the site where the lead singer of another heavy metal group murdered his bandmates 25 years ago…

Review:

Full disclosure – I am a massive fan of the Foo Fighters, so I’m probably pre-inclined to enjoy Studio 666.  That said, I think even if you aren’t a fan of the rock band, but you are a fan of gory, R-rated horror-comedies with an intentionally ridiculous, B-movie tone, you should still find plenty to enjoy in this film.

Based on a story by Dave Grohl, and starring Dave Grohl and the rest of his Foo Fighters bandmates, this could have come across as nothing more than a vanity project – but Dave Grohl is a surprisingly charismatic screen presence, and even though a couple of his bandmates are clearly not natural actors, because they are effectively playing heightened, parody versions of themselves, they can get away with it.  They’re ably supported by a talented ensemble cast of veteran comedy performers, including the likes of Whitney Cummings, Will Forte and Jeff Garlin.

“…‘The Shining’ by way of ‘This Is Spinal Tap’…”

The film is clearly only trying to be a bit of knockabout fun, and on that level, I thought it really worked.  The fact that it’s playing with established horror movie cliches – especially haunted house and demonic possession cliches – may mean that it doesn’t offer that many surprises, but the sense of familiarity is half the fun.  In many ways, it’s The Shining by way of This Is Spinal Tap.

Overall, Studio 666 was never intended to be a mainstream movie – but it’s destined to be a cult hit in the Venn diagram of the overlap between fans of American rock bands and fans of B-movie horror comedies.