Studio 666

The story behind the production of the Foo Fighters’ new release Studio 666 is perhaps more interesting than the film itself. Conceptualised by Dave Grohl during the recording of their tenth album, Medicine at Midinight, Grohl was inspired by the spooky occurrences that plagued the process, so after they were finished recording, the band teamed up with Hatchet 3 director BJ McDonnell and returned to the house where they recorded the album to make a film. 

That’s a great story, sadly it didn’t really translate into an equally good movie. 

Starring the band as fictionalised versions of themselves and featuring a host of great cameos, Studio 666 tells the tale of a recording session gone awry, with demon possession, lots of meta-jokes and buckets of blood. It’s a clear homage to a whole host of films, bands and generally the genre of horror, but the end product manages to fall quite flat. 

The greatest issue is one of excess, as the production definitely could have done with a tighter edit. Tongue-in-cheek horror begins to lose its charm if it drags, which this certainly does towards the end. Many of the comedic scenes also need trimming, which might have helped to fix another problem: the acting. Whilst they are great musicians in their own right, the Foo Fighters aren’t thespians and it becomes increasingly immersion-breaking as the narrative continues. Grohl himself isn’t awful and drummer Taylor Hawkins manages to be watchable but for the rest of them, it’s clunky. For many, the acting will just be par for the course, but the weird blend of scenery-chewing and stilted delivery eventually begins to grate. 

The flick is also extraordinarily bloody, with the gore ramped up to video-nasty levels. It’s quite fun to watch and many of the better moments are when it lets loose with the corn syrup and red dye. There are a lot of fun practical effects, enough probably to tide over the splatter film buffs and anyone who wants to tune in just for the decapitations, will be satisfied. 

For those in the mood for some bloody fun, with lots of references and cameos, this is the film. But the end product is too long, and certainly doesn’t justify its runtime in the context of its quality.

Joe Milo

Studio 666 is released in select cinemas on 25^th February 2022.

Watch the trailer for Studio 666 here: