The Edge Online - Film, DVD, TV: The X-Files File 1 The Unopened File

The X-Files File 1: The Unopened File (VHS)
Fox Video, three X-Files episodes, 135 minutes
Review by David Clark (1996)

The X-Files makes a welcome return to video with the first in a series of four ‘limited edition’ feature-length files, each to contain two complete but merged episodes with one set of opening and closing titles. Having said that, this first tape has three, starting with the cliff-hanger last episode of series 2, Anasazi, written by Carter and Duchovny, and the revealing first two of series 3, The Blessing Way and Operation Paper-Clip, by Carter. So this is a preview of episodes yet to be shown on terrestrial TV for, in the case of the series 3 episodes, quite some time to come.

Furthermore, The Unopened File is concerned with the government cover-up/extraterrestrials on Earth story arc central to the series. It’s the usual X-Files, only more so. We get an earthquake, an alien skeleton, omens, Native American mysticism, the theft of officially non-existent Defense Department files, skullduggery in the United Nations building, Mulder decking Skinner, a murder in Mulder’s apartment building, Cigarette Smoking Man turning up on Mulder’s father’s doorstep, Scully grazed by a bullet meant for Mulder, Mulder’s father’s death, hide and seek in dark corners with Agent Krycek, Scully shooting at Mulder . . . all this is just in the first half hour. By the time we’re an hour in Mulder’s been bumped off and things are getting seriously weird. By the end, Skinner has saved the day by getting the better of ‘black-lunged bastard’ CSM who, as agent of a shadowy group of government and capitalist conspirators, is the main villain here.

The problem with The Unopened File is that so many of our questions are answered. This story sets things up for the third series, but doesn’t look like resuming the ninth episode, returning us to the concept of a pair of FBI agents investigating the unusual. There are a few differences: Skinner is definitely Mulder’s friend at the FBI and Scully’s psychic sister Melissa is dead, but how long can this go on before the series gets spoilt and tired? Personally I think it’s high time we discovered the secrets of Mulder's video collection. Still, the X-Files remains funny, intriguing drama, and among the best genre TV I’ve seen; these are three of its best episodes.