In any other year, the Foo Fighters dropping a feature-length rockorrody film (‘add to dictionary’ because I have officially coined that phrase) would be nuts, but in 2022 where we’ve already seen The Wiggles top the Hottest 100, Scomo strumming a ukulele and Kanye beefing with Peppa Pig, Studio 666 hardly passes as music news. That’s said, it’s an excruciating film that deserves every single bit of your attention
Not since Spice World The Movie has such a bonkers concept been so delightful. It’s an original Dave Grohl concept, brought to life by screenwriters Rebecca Hughes and Jeff Buhler. We follow the band as they record their tenth studio album in a super spooky mansion and it’s not long ‘til things start going awry.
The house chosen for the film is the actual house the Fooeys recorded Medicine At Midnight, and when the idea occurred to him Dave thought up an unconventional way of drumming up some buzz about it. Over a series of months, he leaked the idea that the house was actually haunted – telling furphies about the ghost voices appearing on their recordings and instruments going missing in the middle of the night. All of which was bullshit.
But man, I wish it wasn’t, because the result is tantalising and terrible. Possessed by the ghost of rock legends past, Dave slowly descends into madness, which is really bad news for the rest of the guys. They set out to save his soul, and the result is Spinal Tap meets Shaun of the Dead, a satanic Scooby-Doo romp that only Dave and co could pull off.
If the movie didn’t hold up on it’s own, which it totally does, Dave’s recorded an entire Dream Widow metal album which serves as the soundtrack, and every track fucking slaps.
Studio 666 is the longest, wildest, grossest Foo Fighters music video of all time, a simultaneous zero- and five-star final product, that I highly recommend everyone waste their time on immediately. It’ll be your favourite movie you’ll never want to see again.
