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Home Entertainment: ’Studio 666’ digital review

The Foo Fighters are one of the most iconic rock bands around. Recently, they’ve had to endure tragedy after drummer Taylor Hawkins died. A few months before that, the group made the most of the imposed break that the Coronavirus inflicted as they hunkered down and made horror movie Studio 666 together. Directed by BJ McDonnell and written by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes, from a story thought up by the Foo Fighters’ lead singer Dave Grohl, Studio 666 charts the ill-fated recording of a fictionalised Foo Fighters album.

Opening in Encino, California, in the year 1993, Studio 666 gets straight to the heart of the horror as Jenna Ortega’s rocker, Skye Willow, is savagely killed. Ortega also opened this year’s Scream film, and whilst her appearance here gets things off with a bang, it’s nowhere near as exciting as her performance in the other film, and she’s criminally underutilised. Once Ortega is out of the way the story jumps forward to present day where we find Dave Grohl and co trying to find the perfect place to record their forthcoming tenth album. The house in question is of course the one that Ortega’s character was butchered in, but this news doesn’t deter the ambitious Grohl who flippantly remarks, “who cares about a creepy death vibe when drums sound so good?” 

In typical lead singer mode, Grohl’s presence completely takes over the film. Much of the story is spent with Grohl, and the rest of the band are pushed by the wayside until toward the very end. There’s a The Shining vibe to Grohl’s unravelling; Studio 666 takes its time letting Grohl marinate in madness and it’s a while before the scenes start to match the cold open of the film. Having so much time devoted to Grohl, and with little in the way of spooky happenings, Studio 666 gets tired pretty quickly. 

Another major flaw in Studio 666 is that it completely runs out of steam a while before the ending. There’s not a lot of material, and what little there is has been stretched out far longer than it should have been. When reading the synopsis, and doing a little digging into the type of movie that this is, there’s the sense that it should be short and sweet, somewhere around the eighty-to-ninety minute mark, and yet Studio 666 comes in at a whopping one hundred and ten minutes. There really is no need for such a long run-time, in fact the story and pacing would have both heavily benefited from being more svelte. Once annoyance and tiredness creep in, it’s hard to fully settle and enjoy Studio 666

The Foo Fighters have always been known for their silly, tongue-in-cheek music videos, and Studio 666 is a continuation of that same brand of ridiculousness. There’s none of their signature move of dressing-up, but there are plenty of nods to popular culture. Those that have seen the music video for the song Everlong will be familiar with the band’s love of horror and Studio 666 is used to push this even further. Fans of the genre will pick-up on many references, although the most prominent is perhaps Friday 13th, as two homages (one including a chainsaw, another a pool) testify to. However, it is never as fun or fully self-referential as any of their music videos. 

It being a film that stars the Foo Fighters, music is a paramount fixture of Studio 666 and if there’s one positive, it’s the excellent soundtrack. Both the score, and the music created by the band as they try to achieve the ultimate track, are genius. It’s like having a private screening of the ultimate Foo Fighters performance and die-hard Foo fans are going to lose their minds when they hear what has been cooked up by the band here. Outside of the music though, the film crumbles to pieces. Other than now having the sad prestige of being one of the last on-screen appearances of Hawkins, the film doesn’t really have a great deal going for it. 

Studio 666

Kat Hughes

Studio 666

Summary

Although fun in places, Studio 666 quickly runs out of steam. An idea perhaps best suited to a shorter length, or even better, another music video for the band, Studio 666 will test even the most devoted fan’s commitment.

2

Studio 666 is available to own on Digital HD now. 

Kat Hughes is a UK born film critic and interviewer who has a passion for horror films. An editor for THN, Kat is also a Rotten Tomatoes Approved Critic. She has bylines with Ghouls Magazine, Arrow Video, Film Stories, Certified Forgotten and FILMHOUNDS and has had essays published in home entertainment releases by Vinegar Syndrome and Second Sight. When not writing about horror, Kat hosts micro podcast Movies with Mummy along with her five-year-old daughter.

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