Studio 666
Director: BJ McDonnell
Actors: Jenna Ortega, Will Forte, Dave Grohl, Chris Shiflett, Taylor Hawkins
Release Date: Friday 25th February 2022
Genre(s): Comedy, Horror
Running time: 105 minutes
In ‘Studio 666’, the legendary rock band Foo Fighters are looking for a spot to record their much anticipated tenth album. They reckon they’ve found the perfect place in a mansion in Encino, Los Angeles, which they stay in to record. In spite of the sweet digs, the band’s frontman, Dave Grohl, is struggling to find inspiration. As their stay in the house drags on, the sound for their music comes – as do a number of otherworldly demons.
Horror comedies are becoming ever more popular among cinema offerings and it’s a sub-genre that generally works. After all, if you hate to be scared, there’s a relief in being able to laugh it off. Moreover such movies allow for gore and special effects that can be utterly ridiculous looking, so you’re laughing with rather than at those behind the movie, and boy do the Foo Fighters exploit that in ‘Studio 666’.
Based on a story by Dave Grohl, the acting of this movie isn’t particularly exceptional, but you’ve amusing cameos from the likes of Lionel Richie, Will Forte, Whitney Cummings, Jeff Garlin, and Jenna Ortega to make up for that. Grohl is really front and centre and in fairness, is very funny. In one scene, he presents the guys with some of the music riffs he’s been working on – all of them already well-established Foo Fighters songs.
Filled with gross-out humour and cussing, there are dick jokes and cracks about sex with one another’s relatives, including someone’s grandmother. Safe to say, be prepared for crassness. That applies too to the slasher elements of the feature which include cheap jump scares, a bonkers disembowelling scene, and a very bloody sequence involving a chainsaw. It’s all so over the top that one does find themselves laughing out loud.
At that, ‘Studio 666’ has issues. It can at times have the feel of a blundering student-made film. In its running length, it could have been a bit tighter, and it feels derivative of such films as ‘This Is Spinal Tap’, ‘Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny’, or even ‘This is the End’. It won’t be going down with the classics anytime soon, but it’s a bit of craic while it lasts in any case.
