Horror is so hot right now, everyone wants a bite. No longer relegated to the midnight movie, the often low-budget, high-profit genre isn’t just flourishing at the box office in the lingering pandemic market, it’s practically saturated it. So it’s no surprise that a beloved rock band, especially one as affable as the Foo Fighters might want in on the action. What they’ve come up with is a goofy, gory horror comedy, “Studio 666,” directed by BJ McDonnell, written by Jeff Buhler and Rebecca Hughes, from a story by Foo frontman Dave Grohl.
The Foo Fighters have always been a band with more personality than most, especially since the videos for “Everlong” and “Learn to Fly,” which showcased the acting and comedy skills of Grohl, drummer Taylor Hawkins and guitarist Pat Smear, or at least their willingness to attempt humor. That set them apart from the rest of the modern rock brigade, and Grohl, a rock legend, has legitimate star quality, often showcased as a talking head in rock documentaries, on social media and in TV appearances. But as “Studio 666” proves, rock star charm and personality does not necessarily translate into the acting chops to carry a feature film.
With a stronger screenplay and more dynamic filmmaking, the amateur acting wouldn’t be quite as painfully obvious, but the Foos are stuck with a crass, crude, dated and terribly unfunny script, and McDonnell’s filmmaking is rather inert. Neither funny nor scary, “Studio 666” is lacking in all tension and suspense. Not even the presence of the Horror Master himself, John Carpenter, making a cameo, or 2022’s newly minted Scream Queen Jenna Ortega (“Scream,” “X”), can offer true horror bona fides to this flick, while stand-up comic Whitney Cummings can’t make this thing funny either.
