Nightdreams 2 / Nightdreams 3 (1991)

Although there had been adult films that came before it that cross pollinated sex with elements of the fantasy and horror genres such as The Devil in Miss Jones (1973) and Through the Looking Glass (1976), Nightdreams (1981) was nevertheless a watershed film for the adult medium. Proving just how imaginative an adult film could be, Nightdreams also introduced the cult film world to Stephen Sayadian who, under the pseudonym “Rinse Dream” penned Nightdreams along with Jerry Stahl (“Herbert W. Day”). In a strange way, Sayadian's sheer originality was a bit of a detriment at first as the fusing of sex and surrealism found in Nightdreams wasn't exactly what adult theater attendees wanted to see at the time. While introducing a screening of the film at the 2013 L'Étrange Festival, Sayadian joked that a projectionist who played the film once told him that it was the only time in porn history that audience members actually demanded a refund. While Nightdreams is appropriately considered the first Rinse Dream movie, Sayadian technically didn't direct the film as Francis Delia (“F.X. Pope”) called the action while Sayadian prepared the next set piece. Following his only non-adult feature Dr. Caligari (1989), Sayadian returned to the realm of Nightdreams, this time directing two sequels that retained the spirit of the original film as well as signaling what was to come with the rest of his 90's video output.

The first of Sayadian's 90's videos, Nightdreams 2 is an interesting watch as it more or less sees Sayadian finding his footing with the approach he would take in subsequent films. While “restrained” is hardly the right word, compared to later videos like Party Doll a Go-Go! (1991) and Untamed Cowgirls of the Wild West (1993), Nightdreams 2 feels like somewhat of a trial run at times while still fitting in with the rest of Sayadian's filmography. It might be the farthest thing from “conventional”, however in the vein of the original Nightdreams the film revolves around the common narrative thread of doctors Sledge (Lauren Brice) and Haunt (Joey Silvera) observing the fantasies of inmates at their clinic, the star patient being one Mrs. Atkins (Tianna). Whereas Sayadian would develop a habit for interrupting the sex scenes in later films with random bits of nonsense, here Sayadian lets the sex scenes run their course uninterrupted for the most part, only cutting away on occasion to the astonished reactions of Sledge and Haunt. While the quirks that would become the calling cards of Sayadian's video features are in their embryonic stages here, the film is still a bombardment of surrealism, featuring one of the most bizarre sex scenes in Sayadian's oeuvre with two participants dawning strange masks and face paint and the film even crosses over into full-blown Cronenbergian body horror territory with a manic Tianna displaying an extra orifice ala Cronenberg's Rabid (1977) plus an unforgettable enlargement on another region of her person.

Nightdreams 3 is an even more narrative based endeavor and at times portions of the film could be seen as an XXX variation on Dr. Caligari. Lauren Brice once again is Dr. Sledge, who's unorthodox methods of treating the various sexual neurosis of her patients at the Benway clinic have drawn the unwanted attention of her supervisor Dr. Sirk (Tianna). Its here where Sayadian's unconventional approach to the adult video format really begins to take shape with the sex scenes constantly interrupted by disorienting repeated bits of dialogue from previous scenes and much like the previous film, as well as Dr. Caligari, any resemblance to realism is tossed out the window from the beginning with Sayadian's impeccable post-nuclear chic dayglo production design making the “clinics” both films take place in resemble the remnants of an atomic fall out. Being more narrative driven allows for longer breaks in-between the sex scenes, resulting in an excellent turn from the imposing Brice who gets much more to do here as Dr. Sledge than in the second film, including a hilarious pre-sex bit with a hysterically overacting Tom Byron which again is reminiscent of a scene out of Dr. Caligari. Sayadian's irreverent sense of humor shines through on numerous occasions via the always memorable dialogue with lines like “Your a cupcake full of strychnine” and “She's got a thing for longshoreman. Just mention “On the Waterfront” and she gets randy-pants” as well as his habit of giving his characters Manson family surnames, like Fromme, Krenwinkel and Van Houten.

The opening credits to both films reveal a list of names, or rather pseudonyms, that would become a constant throughout the rest of Sayadian's video era. Key players include producer “Sidney Falco”(nom de plume taken from the 1957 film noir Sweet Smell of Success), hair and make-up artist “Purr Delux”, director of photography “Klaus Krupp” and costume designer “Polly Ester” who was also the costume designer for Sayadian's directorial debut Cafe Flesh (1982). Tianna and Tom Byron would also go on to work with Sayadian again with Tianna providing some of the most memorable moments in both Party Doll a Go-Go! videos and Byron also appearing in the Party Doll videos as well as the first Untamed Cowgirls of the Wild West video. Perhaps the most valuable of Sayadian's reoccurring collaborators would be Double Vision, who's score for Party Doll a Go-Go! is a major part of what makes those videos so brilliant, provide some of their finest, most hypnotizing work for the second and third Nightdreams films, particularly the third film. Unfortunately, like the rest of Sayadian's 90's videos, the pair of Nightdreams films can be tricky to track down having never been officially issued on DVD and neither may attain the following of the first Nightdreams film, however both are essential pieces to the Sayaidan puzzle showcasing the origins of Sayadian's radical approach to adult videos that he would soon perfect.