Sommerleigh Pollonais, Horror Head Writer
Plot: Legendary rock band Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much anticipated 10th album.
Review: I love the Foo Fighters. Scratch that, I freakin’ LOVE THE FOO FIGHTERS! Not only does their music make me wanna get up and sing to the top of my lungs while I whip my head back and forth hard enough to get whiplash, but their music videos are some of the most entertaining out there. So when I found out Dave Grohl was going to be starring in his very own horror movie it wasn’t a matter of IF I was going to watch it but WHEN, and how much of a blast was it going to be.
The premise is a straight forward one and would fit right in as one of their music videos if it wasn’t an hour plus long. The Foo Fighters, most specifically their band leader and song writer Dave Grohl, are tasked with coming up with their tenth album but is suffering writer’s block. Their manager Jeremy (Jeff Garlin) arranges for them to stay in a rundown mansion but what Dave, Nate, Pat, Taylor, Rami and Chris aren’t aware of is the house once belonged to a famous band who were all brutally murdered there. And if you’ve ever seen a horror movie, you can pretty much guess what happens next.
I never expected this to be amazing or anything but I was hopeful. And while it’s not fantastic or anything, there’s just enough here to make Studio 666 fun to watch. The band members all play ridiculous versions of themselves with Dave hamming it up as the egotistical celebrity who thinks the world revolves around him. I had a blast watching them take the piss out of each other but honestly wished they went further with it as the rest of the band, with the exception of Rami Jaffee who gets to play the over-sexed one, are pretty much wasted until the very end (Pat’s screaming was hilarious).
They also get a couple of points for throwing in Will Forte as a delivery guy who wants Dave to listen to his demo and horror legend John Carpenter also shows up as sound engineer Rip (horror fans will know Carpenter isn’t just an amazing horror director but a fantastic composer too). The film also has genre mainstay Leslie Grossman (American Horror Story) and funny gal Whitney Cummings (creator of 2 Broke Girls). The story might be thin and the acting thinner but the same can’t be said about the gory bits as they definitely don’t hold back in this arena. There’s a bunch of fun and over-the-top kills, with a chainsaw double-kill that would definitely take the top spot on Dead Meat’s Kill Count.
So Studio 666 isn’t going to win any horror awards but it did manage to make me laugh, smile and cringe while also delivering some head banging tunes. Considering it starred a band of guys who have little to no acting experience and it’s the kind of horror my adolescence self would’ve relished seeing (which might’ve been what they were going for). And throw in the fact I’m a fan and biased as hell and I’m calling this a win, or at the very least, a fun way to pass some horror loving time.
Sommer’s Score: 6 out of 10
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Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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