Can You Believe ‘X-Files: I Want to Believe’ Director’s Cut Trailer Is Scarier Than Original?
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- Chris Carter's director's cut of 'The X-Files: I Want to Believe' premieres Aug. 14 on Disney+ and Hulu, now rated R and retitled 'Vrach Frankenshteyn' — a Russian rendering of 'Victor Frankenstein' — to reintroduce horror elements Carter says were cut for a PG-13 rating.
- The original 2008 film drew mixed-to-negative reviews, with The New York Times calling it 'baggy, draggy, oddly timed,' the New York Post deeming it 'basically TV writ large,' and Rolling Stone writing it 'pleases no one.'
- The new trailer features Bernard Herrmann-esque strings, a face peering from beneath ice, a woman screaming 'Please let me out of here' from inside a box, and Scully telling Mulder, 'I can't look into the darkness with you anymore.'
- Hulu described the R-rated version as 'the film Chris always envisioned — a darker, frightening thriller exploring a real-life Dr. Frankenstein,' adding the restoration gives fans 'a side of the film that has never been seen before.'
- The plot follows Mulder and Scully investigating a series of abductions with help from a defrocked priest (Billy Connolly) who claims to be psychic.
- Hulu and Disney+ will also stream the original 'I Want to Believe' on Aug. 14 alongside the director's cut for side-by-side comparison.
- The X-Files franchise returned for an 11th and final season in 2018.
Why it matters: Longtime X-Files fans finally get Carter's uncut horror vision, which he's argued was compromised by studio-driven PG-13 concessions, while casual viewers can stream the original 2008 film the same day and judge the differences for themselves. The R-rated restoration gives the poorly reviewed sequel a second life on streaming, reframing a critical disappointment as a hidden auteur cut.
