Back in 1978, the legendary band KISS starred in a TV movie entitled “Kiss Meets The Phantom of the Park”. The movie was designed to take advantage of the huge appeal of the band and featured the band and their music in a television-appropriate horror movie.
Flash forward to 2022 and fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Members The Foo Fighters have jumped into the Horror film genre with “Studio 666”.
The band plays themselves as they attempt to find the sound for their tenth album and take residence in an Encino residence to record. Unknown to the band the residence was the site of a grizzly massacre of a 90s band back in the day and their whimsical neighbor (Whitney Cummings) attempts to warn them about the horrors that unfolded in their rented home.
Undaunted; the band struggles to find their inspiration until Dave Grohl makes a discovery in the basement and soon becomes possessed. This leads to a series of bizarre behaviors and a fanatical compulsion with a song which Dave wants to run the entire length of the album and militaristically drives the band to get the song done and done right.
Being a Horror film things soon take a turn into the Gory and there are some overloads of gore in the film which fit in with the tongue in cheek and humor-filled tone of the film. The movie struggles to find a balance between Horror and Humor and plays out as an overly-long vanity project at times as the one-hour and forty-minute run time seems a bit excessive as there are several scenes that could have been cut or reduced.
There is also the matter of the acting in the film as while Grohl does a good job chewing the scenery, many of the band seem very awkward and forced even by the standards of bad horror film acting. It came across in many ways as a film project a group of school friends would have made if they had a reasonable budget.
There are several cameos in the film which are loads of fun and while the story, pacing, and acting in the film leave much to desire, the band are fun to watch and while in many ways “Studio 666” plays out as a vanity project, some could see it as a fun outing for the band and one that their fans will love.
Regardless of the issues, “Studio 666” is worth a watch if you are a fan of the band or the genre; I would just suggest waiting to see it on home video or streaming unless you are a hardcore fan.
2.5 stars out of 5
