Review: STUDIO 666, Foo Fighters Gory, Goofy Ode to Rock 'N Roll Excess

After touring the world a thousand times, selling tens of millions of albums, and just last year being inducted into the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame, it would've seemed like there were no worlds left to conquer for Foo Fighters. It wasn't enough for Dave Grohl, the mastermind behind the group's biggest selling hits and the public face of the band, and so the band takes a step beyond their comfort zone and into the world of movies with Studio 666, a hybrid vanity project/self-deprecating horror comedy from director BJ McDonnell (Hatchet III).

After twenty-five years as a band, Foo Fighters - or an exaggerated version of them - have hit a creative wall when it comes to writing their 10th studio album. In order to break through the writer's block, Grohl and team decide to make camp in an old, possibly haunted, mansion in Encino in the hopes that the building's creepy rock 'n roll past will inspire greatness. Little do they know that the curse is real, and soon they'll be fighting more than just those pesky Foos, they'll be fighting for their lives.

The first sign of trouble comes when the band's guitar tech, Gunter (Slayer's Kerry King) falls victim to some shady wiring and wounds up fried before the recording even start. That's only the beginning, though, as Grohl's prima donna attitude and erratic rock star eccentricities begin to evolve into something more sinister as the film wears on. The rest of the Foos, guitarists Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear, bass player Nate Mendel, drummer Taylor Hawkins, and keyboardist Rami Jaffe, all do their best to navigate Dave's bizarre behavior, but it soon beomces clear, that not everyone is making it out of this record alive.

When Dave starts having visions of a malicious gardener on the property, things get weird, until he eventually discovers a hidden storage basement filled with demonic looking ephemera. Also, among the detritus is a recording of some of the heaviest rock he’s ever heard, and he’s determined to finish it no matter what the cost.

It turns out, the cost will be many, many lives, each lost in increasingly gory set pieces sure to set gorehounds’ hearts a flutter. Bodies are bisected, heads are halved, guts are splayed here and there, and it’s all pretty hilarious and in the name of the perfect rock ‘n roll masterpiece. I don’t know if there’s a good reason to go on a violent murderous rampage, but if there is a justification I can get behind, it’s the pursuit of rock ‘n roll.

There’s not much new here under the sun, it’s a horror comedy starring a charismatic rock star with little concern for making himself look silly, and in that sense this blood-soaked vanity project is endearing. It’s also kind of a unique project, it’s a film starring an active rock band that isn’t filled to the brim with the band’s songs. In fact, Grohl even starts playing Foo hits a couple of times, only to have the band cut him off because they’ve been done to death.

If the film has a major failing, it’s the overwhelming amount of Grohl at the expense of the rest of the band. Granted, he’s the clear leader, and the other guys seem pretty content to do their own thing, but doing that on stage is different than doing it in a movie. The rest of the band don’t get much in the way of characterization at all, making their fictionalized versions of themselves largely interchangeable. Rami Jaffe as a womanizing hippie probably comes closest to differentiating himself from the pack, and the other guys perform well enough in their acting duties, but I was left a little disappointed with what little meat they are given.

That being said, it’s a relatively minor quibble, and Studio 666 was definitely an interesting addition to the already long list of rock ‘n roll horror movies, and one of the only ones starring an actual band.

Director BJ McDonnell comes from a rock ‘n video background, having worked for years with bands like Slayer on feature length treatments of their work (hence the Kerry King appearance), but it’s his experience on Hatchet III that comes in most useful in Studio 666. That franchise is mostly known for featuring some of the gnarliest kills this side of the ‘80s, and he brings that eye for the gruesome to this new project in a way that is sure to make more than a few of Foo Fighters’ fans a bit uncomfortable, and I’m here for it.

For a band who has made a very comfortable living making middle-of-the-road alternative rock for long enough to currently find themselves firmly in the realm of Dad Rock, Studio 666 is a bit of a gamble. A very violent and gory splatter film with plenty of raunchy language and situations that is well out of the safe-zone they've operated in musically for nearly three decades, the film is sure to be a hit with a certain segment of their musical audience and perhaps wildly alienating for others.

I find myself in the former group, not a huge fan of the band's music, but I am willing to pay respect where it is due and Studio 666 is a solid horror comedy that never allows its reach to exceed its grasp. By leaning into the strengths and weaknesses of its cast to deliver a very fun experience, Studio 666 has created what has the potential to become a new cult classic, with plenty of little gross nuggets for gorehounds to enjoy.