Studio 666 (2022)

Hammer time! A head gets bashed-in at the very start of the film!

The Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Taylor Hawkins, Pat Smear, Rami Jaffee and Chris Shiflett) decide to record their 10th album in an isolated Encino house that has a mysterious, horrific history… and soon supernatural forces are unleashed, forcing the band to deal with possessions, demons and very bloody murders.

A delivery guy gets beheaded with garden sheers!

Directed by BJ (HATCHET III) McDonnell, STUDIO 666 was financed by the Foo Fighters and is basically a glossy band home movie writ large. The acting is pretty much what you’d expect from guys who aren’t, well, actors, with Pat Smear, bless him, definitely coming across as the most wooden and Rami Jaffee proving to be the natural thespian of the group: he’s actually really funny in all of his scenes.

Rami steals all the scenes he's in — Rami steals all the scenes he’s in

Based on a story by Dave Grohl, scriptwriters Jeff (PET SEMATARY) Buhler and Rebecca Hughes’ plot is an excuse for some easy-going banter between the band members, homages to 80s horror movies and a series of elaborate death scenes.

Krug (Kerry King) gets fried in an electrical accident

It’s certainly the gore moments that stand out – and it’s obvious that a lot of effort was put into them. Though there’s some CGI blood, these over the top murders are produced mainly via old school practical effects that are very striking to behold.

Chris Shiflett's face gets barbecued! — Chris Shiflett’s face gets barbecued!

There’s a skin-blistering barbecue demise, a death-by-cymbal, an opening hammer assault, a head crushed under a van tyre and more. The standout set-piece, though, has to be the amazingly bloody chainsaw attack on Rami Jaffee and Whitney Cummings as they have sex in bed. The whirring saw chain chews through Whitney’s head, cuts through Rami’s face, then slices down both bodies, cutting them in half lengthways! It’s a practical effects (with added CGI) tour de force!

The chainsaw rips through Whitney Cummings' head... — The chainsaw rips through Whitney Cummings’ head…

...and the saw chews into Rami's face... — …and the saw chews into Rami’s face…

...and then the chainsaw bisects the bodies! — …and then the chainsaw bisects the bodies!

Makeup effects designer Tony (ZOMBIELAND) Gardner is the true star of STUDIO 666, dreaming up a whole bunch of exaggerated-yet-realistic practical splatter moments that the rest of the movie is obviously built around.

The late Taylor Hawkins finds himself a victim of part of his own drum kit

The band don’t take the film seriously and you shouldn’t either: just relax and enjoy scenes featuring red-eyed demon-zombies, cameos by John Carpenter and Lionel Richie, nods to movies like the original EVIL DEAD flicks, a disemboweled raccoon, a possessed Dave Grohl turning cannibal and, of course, the bloody fine splatter-murders!