In the mood to bark at the moon?
While not quite a new release, Studio 666 fits the bill for the Halloween season so why not give it a try? Craving some Evil Dead demened fun? Check! Like headbanging tunes? Check. Want some blood and guts with your satanic panic? Check! Studio 666, now streaming on Amazon Prime, checks all the boxes for your Halloween Hootenanny.
Directed by BJ McDonnell (Hatchet III) and written by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes (from a story by Dave Grohl), Studio 666 has the members of Foo Fighters shacking up in a haunted Encino mansion (Rick Rubin’s haunted palace) to record their 10th album. But something isn’t settling right with the band - Pat Smear, (the late) Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shifflet, and Rami Jaffe - don’t care how great the sound of the snare is, Dave Grohl, is acting really funny - especially after he went down to the basement alone.
With a dark history (in which the lead singer of a fictional band, Dream Widow, killed all the other members in various grisly ways), this haunted house has Grohl’s number, especially when he becomes literally possessed by a song the Dark Lord himself wants Foo Fighters to finish, record, and release into the world. What follows are a whole lot of inside jokes, cameos from Will Forte, John Carpenter, and Lionel Richie, and enough violent bloodshed (mostly practical effects) to make Sam Rami pleased as punch at the resulting comic mayhem.
Studio 666 is intended for those audiences who are (a) familiar with the band’s type of humor (meaning watch their videos), (b) not afraid to flash devil horns and rock out, and (c) a horror film junkie. The horror scenes don’t suck at all and they are packed with grisly details as the members of the band lose their heads, limbs, and dicks for satanic rock ‘n roll. Grohl’s possession is consequential and hilarious as he begins floating from room to room making his recording demands known to all. More drums! More guitars! More everything as his 44-minute single song opus becomes an obsession . . . and it still doesn’t have a fitting ending.
Released in February of this year to mixed reviews, this Halloween season is the perfect time to give it a 666 spin on your set. It co-stars Whitney Cummings, Leslie Grossman, Jenna Ortega, Kerry King, and Jeff Garlin and never runs out of steam as various demons come out to help the mysterious gardener who haunts the grounds of the mansion with his shears. Their plan? Give Grohl the solo career Satan wants him to have.
Maybe a bit long and a tad juvenile in some areas, Studio 666’s over-the-top horror antics will howl alongside you at the next full moon this Halloween.
MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence and gore, pervasive language, and sexual content.
Runtime: 106 mins
Director: BJ McDonnell
Writer: Jeff Buhler; Rebecca Hughes
Cast: Dave Grohl; Nate Mendel; Pat Smear
Genre: Comedy | Horror
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote: "It's called Everlong, and you wrote it about 20 years ago."
Theatrical Distributor: Open Road Films
Official Site: https://www.studio666movie.com/
Release Date: February 22, 2022
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 24, 2022.
Synopsis: Legendary rock band Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much anticipated 10th album.
