X-Files creator releases darker director's cut of 2008 film on Hulu

Chris Carter, creator and co-writer of The X-Files, has released a new version of the film The X-Files: I Want to Believe, now streaming on Hulu under the title Vrach Frankenshteyn. This cut is much closer to what Carter originally intended than the version that reached theaters in 2008, which 20th Century Fox executives pushed to soften into a PG-13 release.

Carter said the original cut still allowed him to tell a good X-Files story, just not in the way he had planned. The new edit leans more heavily into Frankenstein-inspired horror elements and spends less time on the personal relationship between agents Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson).

Plot and inspiration

In the film, Mulder and Scully investigate a series of kidnappings connected to a former priest who claims to have psychic visions. Their investigation leads them to dismembered body parts found in the frozen wilderness of West Virginia.

Carter explained that his focus is on real-world fears tied to the pursuit of eternal youth and immortality, including the idea that a head transplant onto a younger body could represent a form of everlasting life. While writing the script in the early 2000s, Carter drew inspiration from neurosurgeon and bioethicist Robert J. White, who successfully transplanted the head of one living monkey onto another's body in the 1970s. Carter met White in Ohio before the scientist's death in 2010 to discuss his research.

Franchise future

After the 2008 film, the series continued with two revival seasons on Fox between 2016 and 2018, drawing in a new generation of fans. Carter is now working on another project, the film Queens for a Day, with his wife Dori. He also expressed confidence in filmmaker Ryan Coogler, who is developing a new take on The X-Files, though Carter has deliberately avoided reading Coogler's script.