Foo Fighters ‘Studio 666’ is Funny, Stupid, Entertaining, And Tragic All At The Same Time

Since emerging from the grim morass of Nirvana’s tragic end, Foo Fighters have displayed a single-minded purpose to boldly go where no rock band has gone before, finding new artistic outlets in between stadium-filling world tours, chart-topping albums, and a pirate’s treasure chest of honors and awards. Following creative commander-in-chief Dave Grohl wherever he plots a course, they have participated in documentaries, television series, alter egos and media stunts, seldom staying still for long. Sadly, all that forward motion came to a sudden shocking halt on March 25, 2022, when drummer Taylor Hawkins died in his hotel room at the age of 50 while on tour in South America. 

Just a month earlier, the Foo Fighters released Studio 666, their first scripted movie, which came out this week on Blu-ray and DVD and is available for rent on various streaming services. Produced by Grohl’s Roswell Films and directed by BJ McDonnell, the horror comedy pays tribute to 1980s classics like the Evil Dead and A Nightmare on Elm Street, franchises which always had a tongue firmly placed in the cheek of their severed heads. Filmed before and after Los Angeles’ Covid-19 lockdown, the band members play themselves while a panoply of actors, comedians and musicians make brief cameos before being slaughtered in new and unusual ways.  

Studio 666’s plotline is located at the Satanic crossroads where rock myths and horror riffs meet. Seeking inspiration for their landmark tenth album, the Foo Fighters move into a dilapidated mansion in the Los Angeles suburbs at the suggestion of manager Jeremy Shill, played by Jeff Garlin of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame. What they don’t know is that the last band to record there was murdered by their lead singer who was trying to unleash the demonic powers of a living book of the dead that feasts on raccoon blood and their possesed evil spirits still haunt the grounds. The story, written by Grohl, was inspired by the real-life strange occurrences that happened during the recording of the Foos actual tenth album, 2021’s Medicine at Midnight, at the same Encino mansion where the movie was filmed.   

The jokes are as stupid as the plotline. This isn’t a diss. Lots of great art, especially rock n’ roll, is dumb as dirt and all the better for it. The movie is genuinely funny, whether its inside jokes about the Foo Fighters or rock culture (“Pearl Jam high 5 up top…Jeremy has fuckin’ spoken” makes me chuckle everytime I think of it) or ridiculous violence that’s so over the top one can only laugh. In particular, keyboardist Rami Jaffee and groupie gatekeeper Whitney Cummings’ chainsaw sex death is worthy of the splatter film hall of fame. The band’s acting skills are wanting for the most, guitarist Pat Smear looks like he’s always holding back laughter, but that just makes the scenes funnier and is reminiscent of many a B-movie classic. 

Much like the frontman of Dream Widow, the ill-fated ‘90s band that were supposed to be “the next Jane’s Addiction,” Grohl is infected by the book’s supernatural powers. On the upside, it breaks his writer’s block, as he crafts a never-ending stoner metal opus in the key of “L sharp” (to explain the joke to non-musicians, the 12-note chromatic scale ranges from A to G sharp before repeating at a different pitch). On the downside, he becomes a demonic cannibal and starts killing off his bandmates one by one. It’s ultimately revealed the whole thing was a plot of their manager’s, a Satanic devotee who wants to make rock n’ roll relevant again by making it dangerous. In proper horror fashion, everyone dies in the end besides the demon Grohl, who now spreads evil throughout the land with his music. 

Studio 666 is good stupid fun which taps the same vein as the schlocky horror movies that inspired it with affection, accuracy and skill. Watching it, though, one can’t help but feel pangs of sadness, dread and heartbreak, knowing it was Foo Fighters’ final endeavor with their dearly departed drummer. Though unintentional, some moments are almost too creepy to endure, such as Hawkins’ death scene or when the band’s manager tells Grohl, “It’s time for your solo career,” as his bandmates’ corpses lay around him. Drawing on their history of trend-setting music videos that featured extended comedic narratives, the Foo Fighters achieved another career first with the release of their first feature length scripted movie. It’s unfortunate that its release coincided with the band’s greatest tragedy.

Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter: @BHSmithNYC.