X-Philes
The truth is amusing, but not out there enough.

Nicholas Lea alone is worth the cost of any documentary.

As anyone who has used a surplus of profanity debating UST versus MSR on a BBS well knows, the fan base of The X-Files are a prime target for one of those investigation of the geek subculture documentaries. Not since Star Trek fans frightened the world with the birth of slash fan fic have people flocked so devotedly -- and stringently -- to a television series, creating a whole new slew of factions, collections and obsessions in their wake. The Mulder fan's answer to Trekkies, X-Philes -- which can be purchased at www.xphilesfilm.com -- seeks to examine the mindset of the Phile, and while this documentary will likely reveal nothing any genre fan didn't already know, it's an entertaining and amusing effort nonetheless.

I'll be honest here -- it's hard for me to judge this documentary when I, at one point, existed so thoroughly within the world of its subjects. In many ways, I think X-Philes works best for people who know the least about the show, not because fans of the series will feel insulted, but rather the opposite -- I mean, there are a lot of freaky people in the X-Files fan base, and just not enough of them in the movie. Hardcore fans may be disappointed at the relative tameness of their colleagues. While X-Philes covers the routine bases -- shipperdom, conventions, and, of course, stalking (in a scene which makes you realize what a sweetheart Nicholas Lea really is) it rarely goes beyond the sort of thing you'd traditionally find in this sort of documentary, nor does it convincingly investigate why the series is such a phenomenon. There are no real standout subjects of the film, although many are interviewed, and at times I felt that directors Maria Bowen and Chris Clements might have been better off had they examined only a few Philes, or concentrated more on specific aspects of the fandom.

David Duchovny is just one of many X-Files actors who appear in X-Philes.

However, that doesn't prevent the documentary from being a well-constructed and interesting project, and the interviews with some of the X-Files' cast and crew are terrific. Of particular note are entertaining segments with Dean Hagland (Langly) and Chris Carter, who revealingly compares his show to a religion, thus making him... well, you get the idea. X-Philes is also notable in that it's the first documentary film, so far as I know, to really examine a fan base that came about almost entirely by the power of the internet. This must have been a difficult task for the directors -- I mean, what are you going to do, film a chat room? -- but they went about it well, hunting down the actual denizens of the official board (as well as some recognizable fan groups) and hitting the Expo scene.

Overall, it's a fun film, if you can ignore the sense of been-there, done-that. I'm sure that the poetry site dedicated to the red Speedo Mulder wore in "Duane Barry" provides much amusement for the uninitiated, but for those who've been around the Phile block one two many times, it only makes you realize what a nerd you are for not bursting into laughter, but simply smiling tolerantly. Still, for Philes and Ex-Philes alike, it's worth a look.

DROOL FACTOR: It's a movie about X-Philes, okay? Still, I must say it's a few steps up from Trekkies.

GROSS-OUT FACTOR: You ever been to a convention? There's your answer.

STRONG CHICK FACTOR: Also of note is many of the fans interviewed were women -- some of them in estrogen brigades or the like, but a strong showing for female geekdom nonetheless. Whether we want these folks as the girl genre fan representatives is another story.

-- Sarah Kendzior

X-Philes is available on video at www.xphilesfilm.com.