Chris Carter Aims for a Darker Vision in New X-Files Film
The 2008 release of The X-Files: I Want to Believe didn’t quite match the vision that co-writer and director Chris Carter had in mind. He aimed to bring agents Mulder and Scully back to the big screen with a dark narrative centered on faith and the supernatural. However, executives at 20th Century Fox deemed his ideas too grim, leading him to reshape the project into a PG-13 film. Now, nearly two decades after its initial release, Carter has returned with a director’s cut for Hulu that aligns more closely with his original concept.
“We got to tell a good X-Files story,” Carter reflected on the original cut during a recent discussion about the new version. “We just didn’t get to tell it the way we intended.”
The new cut, titled The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn, hints at its monster-of-the-week storytelling roots. Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) find themselves drawn into a series of horrific kidnappings, aided by a dubious priest (Sir William Connolly) who claims to have psychic visions. The agents are skeptical of his abilities, yet they can’t ignore how he consistently leads them to dismembered body parts hidden in the icy wilderness of West Virginia.
This updated version emphasizes its Frankenstein themes, almost as if it’s tapping into Hollywood’s recent trend of reimagining Mary Shelley’s classic novel. However, Carter believes his take delves into real-world horrors tied to humanity’s desperate quest for youth and immortality.
“There’s this tech bro idea that if you do the right things and eat the right things, you might be able to live forever,” Carter explained. “But if you can successfully transplant your head onto younger bodies, who’s to say that’s not everlasting life?”
While crafting I Want to Believe in the early 2000s, Carter drew inspiration from Robert J. White, a neurosurgeon and bioethicist known for successfully transplanting a monkey’s head onto another body in the 1970s. Before White passed away in 2010, Carter met with him in Ohio to discuss his groundbreaking work, which influenced some of the film’s elements. With Vrach Frankenshteyn, Carter aimed to evoke the visceral fear experienced by individuals undergoing similar experiments. The new cut shifts focus away from Mulder and Scully’s personal relationship, channeling more energy into the terror faced by the victims.
“You have these women who are stalked, violently abducted from their cars, and then trapped in boxes, witnessing horrific medical procedures,” Carter noted. “If the audience comes into this movie thinking about head transplants and the title, plot points like finding an arm in the ice and snow will draw them into the story in a different way.”
Although I Want to Believe received mixed reviews upon its release, the series continued with two revival seasons on Fox from 2016 to 2018. These seasons, along with the rise of digital streaming, introduced a new generation to the X-Files fandom. Carter often finds it surprising to meet young fans who feel a strong connection to the universe he created, even if they weren’t alive during the show’s original run. He values that for these viewers, The X-Files is a fresh experience, distinct from the newer streaming sci-fi series.
Currently, Carter is collaborating with his wife, Dori, on a film titled Queens for a Day, which tells the story of a woman living her mother’s life in the 1950s. He understands the joy of witnessing truly original narratives unfold, which is why he’s kept himself in the dark about Ryan Coogler’s upcoming spin on The X-Files. However, while filming Queens for a Day in Vancouver, he couldn’t prevent some crew members from visiting Coogler’s nearby set. Despite wanting to avoid any “secret inside information,” he trusts that Coogler will leave his mark on the franchise.
“Ryan is a filmmaker I completely respect,” Carter said. “I’ve made a point of not reading [his script] because I want to experience it like everyone else. But I have a sense of what he’s doing with his approach and this diverse cast, and it’s very exciting to me.”
The X-Files: I Want to Believe – Vrach Frankenshteyn is now available for streaming on Hulu.
