 Gillian Anderson described " Sanguinarium " as " one of the most repulsive scripts I ever shot " , explaining that she could not watch scenes such as the doctor stabbing a patient . David Duchovny stated that " I didn 't understand the plot , but I liked the script " , noting that Carter and his team improved a weak teleplay and director Kim Manners " did an excellent job " . Entertainment Weekly gave " Sanguinarium " a " B – " , feeling that it was " redeemed " by the gore . However , they were " worried " by the " fourth consecutive phoned @-@ in performance by Duchovny and Anderson " . Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club was more negative , grading it a " D " . He felt that the episode was " too much " , with gore shown directly instead of suggested . He also criticized the characterization , especially Scully 's , the " predictable " scares , " ludicrously bad " dialogue , and a story that did not make much sense . Despite this , he did praise the " strong " guest acting . Sarah Stegall awarded " Sanguinarium " two stars out of five , commenting that " several things went wrong " , and also noting the reliance on gore . She mused that she thought it was odd that the " bad " magic seemed to succeed , noting that the " good " magic seemed useless , summarizing , " Where 's the logic in that ? " In addition , Stegall thought the episode 's biggest flaw was its lack of logical writing , and that it required too much suspension of belief from the viewer . 
