Foo Fighters could easily be considered the biggest rock and roll band in the world, so it only makes sense that they leap to the big screen. Most bands and artists have done the same thing, from The Beatles to Eminem and of course, Elvis Presley. But none have done what Foo Fighter Dave Grohl and his brethren have done with Studio 666, a horror blood-soaked rock and roll fright fest that simultaneously tackles the concept of generational fame and the pressure of carrying a torch that is largely stays lit because of you.
Dave and the boys—Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, and Nate Mendel, want to do something special for their tenth album. They hatch a plan with their manager (played by Jeff Garlin) to do something they’ve never done before. Record in a house rather than a stuffy studio. Garlin finds them the perfect house in Encino, and they move it and figure they’ll make a tenth album with the abode’s “impeccable sound.”
Problem is, Grohl has writer’s block. He even resorts to playing Foo Fighter songs that are already hits.
By the way, there was a murder decades prior when the lead singer of a 90s band recording their album in the house went bonkers and murdered her band. So, there’s that. Something tells me history is going to repeat itself. But the thing is we never really get any kind of explanation or story about the previous murder, so we just forget ahead and try to make an epic album worth being called number ten.
There’s also a mysterious neighbor, played by comedienne Whitney Cummings and a gardener that doesn’t seem to realize he’s not needed anymore.
As time passes, Grohl and the band get frustrated, yet still extremely supportive. After all, Grohl is the man who has delivered countless hits over the last 25 years and is showing no sign of slowing. But there is something seeping into his soul that is unnatural. Some would argue it is downright supernatural. The way the rocker handles it is magnificent to behold. It is true if they are having fun onscreen, so too will the audience.
What makes Studio 666 so fun is that it is a pure horror movie, masked as a rock and roll opus. There are the tropes one expects, but they are done in such a way that they surprise, shock and awe. Director BJ McDonnell has just the right tone between obsessive psychosis brought on by the demons that rule the house and a simple story about the biggest band in the world recording their pie in the sky album. The thing is, Grohl is stuck on one song. It goes on for 35-plus minutes and he cannot seem to find the ending.
As he moves towards a conclusion, things in the house turn for the darker.
The band is all sorts of game for this fun ride. That’s the thing. Musicians, or any non-actors, are not naturally thespians and oftentimes they can come off like they’re reading their lines instead of delivering them. That is not the case here. The entire band is top-notch in the acting department and sells exactly the cinematic joy that they are selling. Grohl, in particular, is asked to do a lot, even practically changing form, and not for one second did we think that was the drummer of Nirvana playing dress-up.
It is Grohl the actor, delivering a bloody good time for his band, and most importantly, for us.
Grade: B+