I suspect that someday Candida Royalle's contributions to Adult Cinema will come back into fashion, but this 1988 diptych in her Star Directors Series should be watched by aspiring porn directors who are serious about their craft.
Her contribution is The Tunnel, shot at that West Side Manhattan night club with its ancient train tracks dating from its docking days for shipping on the Hudson River.
With adventurous camerawork and stylization, it depicts the erotic dreams/nightmares of Siobhan Hunter, who Candida describes in vast understatement as "photogenic". This abstract romance with a mystery man is a beautiful combination of Adult Cinema and the avant garde (think Emshwiller, Broughton, etc.) that predated it in the world of Underground Cinema.
The other contribution is by Gloria Leonard, with terrific acting by Nina Hartley and Richard Pacheco, two of Adult's most talented performers. It's a simple romantic tryst at a restaurant and then humping back home, notable for Leonard's sharp dialog.
Originally released in the VHS era by Royalle's Femme Prods., it has been preserved along with her other titles on DVD by the very compatible Couples Romance distributor Adam & Eve.
