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.
