Full disclaimer, although I like the Foo Fighters, I am not a fan. They are one of Mark’s favourite bands, so he has shared many stories and YouTube videos with me. As a result, I have determined that I like them, and I like Dave Grohl. But I can’t call myself a fan because I don’t listen to their music. I’ve heard some of their songs and enjoyed them, but I don’t actively seek them out when curating a playlist. It’s like with Mark supporting my love of horror films. When I make a suggestion of a horror comedy, or mild horror film we can watch together, he will watch with me and sometimes he’ll enjoy himself. But he doesn’t actively seek out horror films the way I do.
So when friends of ours reached out to say that Studio 666 was coming to some Ottawa theatres as part of its limited run and asked if we wanted to go, Mark said yes because he wanted to see the Foo Fighters and I said yes to the horror comedy.
Thankfully, I did not need to know a whole lot about the Foo Fighters in order to watch this movie. Although I know next to nothing about some of the band members, it was clear they were playing caricatures of themselves, so it didn’t matter that I had no idea who played what instrument until about a third of the way through the film. Basically, I spent the duration of the film watching rock stars act stupid and have a good time. I particularly loved when I noticed that some of them were fighting to keep a straight face in some of the scenes. The movie was fun, entertaining, and hard to take seriously (not that I was trying). I’m sure Mark and our friends got a little more out of it (maybe even some Easter Eggs) because they are fans of the band, but this could have featured a made up rock band and the story still would have stayed the same.
A couple of days later, Mark and I stumbled upon an episode of Hot Ones by First We Feast on YouTube featuring Dave Grohl. During the interview, Dave talked about how Studio 666 came to be and what inspired the story that the film is based on. He mentioned that the plan was to make a low budget horror film and just have fun with it, until people started throwing money at the project.
Admittedly, I had noticed that the special effects in the film were pretty decent, especially given the fact that the story is pure fluff. Hearing that this was supposed to be a low budget project got my gears turning, and I can’t help but wonder if the movie would have been a little bit better without the extra money. Yes, it was a decent horror comedy, but what if the cast and crew had really gone for a low budget feel? If the blood and gore looked fake, would that not add another layer of comedy?
There’s been a lot of wondering on my part about what the movie would have looked like without the extra funds. And I do love cheesy/bad low budget horror films, so I’m sure I would have enjoyed myself no matter what budget Studio 666 ended up with.
Speculation aside, this was a good movie. Not great, but good. If it’s time in theatres gets extended and another friend asks me out to see it, I doubt I’d want to spend the money to watch it again. But if, years from now, someone invites me over to have a few beers and watch Studio 666, then Hell yeah I’d watch it again. If you decide to watch it, don’t go into it expecting greatness, just expect to have fun. And with the state of the world right now, sometimes that’s all you need out of a movie.
And yes, the music in the film was very good. John Carpenter even contributed to the soundtrack, which was delightfully surprising. After listening to all that rock music, I might just be tempted to listen to some more Foo Fighters songs now.
