We’ve come a long way from the Beatles revolutionizing the rock band film with A Hard Day’s Night. Enter, the Foo Fighters, who star in Studio 666, a horror flick about the band recording their tenth album (which was actually released in 2021). Studio 666 is a tongue-in-cheek horror film that takes camp up to the max. It’s filled with a fun performance from Dave Grohl, who is having the time of his life, and some great scenes where the band records their songs (including a 45-minute song).

Studio 666 is a supernatural horror-comedy film that follows the Foo Fighters as they attempt to record their tenth studio album in an Encino mansion. Lead singer Dave Grohl has hit a creative dry spell; leaving him with the ability to only play his old songs and watching YouTube tutorials on how to write hit songs when you’ve hit such a dry spell. Studio 666 is a fictional version of The Beatles: Get Back with supernatural elements (other than Paul McCartney’s ability to create the song Get Back from the bass).

The thing about Studio 666 is that it likely came to be in a very similar fashion to how the band ends up at the haunted Encino mansion: The idea being pitched to an excited “Let’s do this!” from Grohl. That’s not to say that the rest of the band wasn’t excited, but everything about Studio 666 feels like it means just a little bit more to Grohl than anyone else. It’s a high-budget passion project that doesn’t feel like a celebrity trying to use their popularity to branch off into other avenues — sorry, Addison Rae and Faze Rug. For lack of a better term, Studio 666 at least feels like a movie, if that makes any sense. And while none of the band members have a performance that holds a candle to Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a few that the band shouts out in the film, they have a rapport that only band members can share. I’ve already stated numerous times that Grohl is committed (and great), but the rest of the band members bring something to the table.

Drummer Taylor Hawkins might be my favorite part of the band. If you haven’t ever seen him drum solo and improv, I highly recommend it. The dude is uber-talented and he shares some hilarious back-and-forth lines with Grohl. At one point, Grohl invents a new chord, the “L#,” to which Rami asks what happened to the “H, I, J, K” chords to which Grohl replies: “G, H, I don’t give a fuck.” The chemistry of a band that has been together for two or three decades is on full display, and it’s most of what brings the film to life. Another great example of the wit of the band members is when one character is possessed, two of the band members decide to look at a guide that can help determine whether or not someone is actually possessed and in need of an exorcism. This guide includes “incessant masturbating” and “insatiable hunger for raw meat” (specifically chicken). It’s the delivery of these lines that are far funnier than they are on paper, but they are still worth noting. Pat Smear and Nate Mendel are a great pair that also have the best sequence in the entire film. At one point, they are chased around by a possessed band member in a hilarious long-take.

It’s not just band quips that’ll make you laugh, there are some awesome cameos in Studio 666. Will Forte plays a delivery driver and wannabe band member, who sets off Grohl by stating that the Foo Fighters are his second favorite band behind Coldplay (I would be insulted, too). The violence in the film is gruesome and very gory, but while that may sound like the recent Texas Chainsaw Movie, it’s the complete juxtaposition as it serves its purpose as campy violence that is meant to be cheesy. There is blood spurting out of bodies like a Tarantino movie and cymbals being used as weapons, but it’s clearly not meant to be serious. Even the final showdown features enough low-blows to put the WWE and Jackass crews to shame.

One cast member who is severely underused is Jenna Ortega. You could probably count the minutes of screentime the young star has on one hand. Studio 666 is a Foo Fighters-centric movie, but it would’ve been great to see Ortega used more. In all fairness, Studio 666 was filmed long before her breakout role in Scream (2022), but they likely knew what they had in her white filming Studio 666 and even five more minutes would’ve done wonders for the film.

Look, there’s nothing deep about Studio 666, and that’s perfectly fine. They do throw a line or two in there about “selling your soul” in the rock and roll industry, but it never goes further than that. Ditto to the numerous references throughout the film, most of which are great. David Lynch’s Dune and Waterworld are both mentioned, Led Zeppelin is referenced because Grohl wants “wizards and dragons and shit” a la Led Zeppelin while they recorded an album, Grohl leaps out of a pool in a very Jason Voorhees-like manner, and the fictional manager in the film, played by Jeff Garlin, pokes fun at the band for not putting out albums like Sting, though this line doesn’t hold much weight as Sting has put out five albums since 2011, one of which was simply an album of reworked songs, and the Foo Fighters have put out four.

You don’t have to be the world’s biggest Foo Fighters fan to enjoy Studio 666, but you have to be able to tolerate Dave Grohl (not that this is a hard task) like his band members do when he insists on a 45-minute song with no known ending at the time of recording (what are they, Greta Van Fleet on their second album?). Studio 666 is a joy to watch as one of the best examples of self-awareness in a passion project. The Foo Fighters aren’t world-renowned actors, but like Grohl’s superb rendition of Band on the Run showed, he can learn how to fly, and boy, do the Foo Fighters fly.

Open Road Films will release Studio 666 in theaters on February 25.