Studio 666

Studio 666 seems to have been born out of a real challenge to create a fierce horrific comedy in homage to those of the 80's and 90's and to combine it with a film around the creation of an album by the hard rock band Foo Fighters. The film stars Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Rami Jaffee in their own roles alongside Whitney Cummings (2 Broke Girls), Will Forte (The Last Man on Earth), Jenna Ortega (Jane The Virgin), Leslie Grossman (American Horror Story) and Jeff Garlin (Arrested Development). Yet far from venturing into the register of a music documentary, director B. J. McDonnell (Hatchet III (2013), Slayer: The Repentless Killogy (2019) delivers here a horror film that does not hesitate at any moment to go towards an outrageous gore and revisit the more than worn out theme of the haunted house.

Studio 666 shows us how the rock band Foo Fighters, after having settled in a mansion in Encino to record their long-awaited 10th album, will find themselves confronted with demonic forces and the mansion's heavy past. These supernatural forces will threaten not only the completion of the album but also the strong ties that bind this band. While with the Foo Fighters as the main actors, one could have expected a horrific movie for the general public, it must be admitted that the script by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes, based on a story by the leader of Food Fighters Dave Grohl, does not hesitate to pour in unheard of violence worthy of that of Hatchet III. In the same way, Studio 666 succeeds in making the process of creating an album credible by locking the band in a mansion and by unfolding the story practically in camera, except for the first scene with Foo Fightes at their music label.

Far from falling into the simplicity and the limited framework of a violent thriller with possession worthy of the Evil Dead cinematographic saga (we find here a book not far from the Necronomicon), Studio 666 allows a really interesting approach of the musical creation and the links existing in a popular rock band. Dave Grohl takes a certain pleasure in the caricature of his public image and we see him here in total lack of inspiration while he contributed to the creation of songs like Best of you, Learn to fly, This is a Call and many other worldwide hits. We will also appreciate the numerous appearances of celebrities like Lionel Richie, John Carpenter, Will Forte and Jenna Ortega.  In the same way the fact that the film Studio 666 is not a simple Hollywood film and is similar to an independent film brings it a real visual audacity and the fact that it is not satisfied to be a simple marketing product promoting the music of Foo Fighters. Seeing each member of the band killed in a very violent way makes the film follow the line of slashers like Friday the 13th.

The music also occupies an important place within this film as much by the presence of the group Foo Fighters and its scenes of repetition even if no song was created especially for this film. Certainly the main theme of the film is born from the collaboration of Dave Grohl and John Carpenter and one suspects that the latter has given some advice as the direction is neat and inspired and holds us in suspense from beginning to end without any false note. We can only advise you to discover this film which will be released tomorrow in the United States and Canada and we hope soon in France too

Studio 666
Directed by B. J. McDonnell
Screenplay by Jeff Buhler, Rebecca Hughes
Story by Dave Grohl
Produced by John Ramsey, James A. Rota
Starring Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, Whitney Cummings, Leslie Grossman, Will Forte, Jenna Ortega, Jeff Garlin, Lionel Richie
Cinematography : Michael Dallatorre, Eric Leach
Production companies : Roswell Films, Therapy Studios
Distributed by Open Road Films
Release date : February 25, 2022 (United States)
Running time : 106 minutes

Seen on february 20, 2022 (Press release)

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