Director Chris Carter has released his Directors cut for The X-Files: I Want to Believe for Hulu and it brings a streamlined and darker version of the movie for fans to enjoy.
Dubbed the Vrach Frankenshteyn version, the movie tells the story of a series of abductions in snowy Virginia and how a disgraced priest named Father Joseph (Billy Connolly) may or may not hold the key, thanks to visions he claims to have of the crimes.
The F.B.I. is not convinced that Father Joe is a suspect and simply leads them to clues that his cohorts have left behind, calling in fugitive Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) to help find a missing agent.
Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) has left the agency behind to work as a Doctor and is dealing with her own struggles as she fights to save a patient via an experimental treatment, despite facing challenges from her administration.
Mulder is reluctant to get involved, seeing how his work on the X-Files caused him to become a fugitive when his work uncovered so many dark secrets, and the promise that all charges might be dropped and he is forgiven eventually winning out. The more Father Joe is doubted, the more Mulder becomes convinced there is more to the case than appears, and Scully worries that he is falling down the dark and obsessive hole that has driven him for years.
The new cut is a shorter version that ups the more disturbing visuals of the story and eliminates various elements that caused the focus at times to wander.
It will be interesting to see how it’s received, as I found it to be a more enjoyable version. Key elements that made the characters and the show work so well are enhanced—before it seemed like a minor episode trying to be grand for the big screen. This time, it plays out as a darker and bolder episode, building on the characters and their motivations, showing their struggle between the past and present, and how Mulder still needs to find new mountains to climb and answers to questions big and small.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe makes its appearance on Hulu August 14th.
