Kelly Holland (a/k/a "Toni English") did the very best she could as Vivid's perennial runner up, directing a large number of mostly solid film and video features in the shadow of the revered Paul Thomas, who was responsible for the company's flagship titles, usually at a mere fraction of his budgets. She has since moved on to, shall we say, more democratic employers such as Wicked, Adam & Eve and Penthouse where her talents were allowed to flourish more comfortably. Around the mid-'90s, Vivid launched its subsidiary Wave label, inspired by Adult Video News columnist Jackie L. Watt's solo 'zine effort The Wave Review, both dedicated to exploring pornography from a female point of view. Ironically, both fell through because funds were lacking. Watts' endeavor was entirely self-financed, her only revenue coming from subscriptions and advertising, but it seemed all too clear right from the start that Vivid lacked confidence in its own hype, doling out crumbs to the long-suffering Holland who had been left in charge of this sinking ship that never even got a chance to sail out the harbor. Candida Royalle's Femme Productions, subsequently engulfed by Adam & Eve, had already proved that there was a vast market (that mythical "unserved audience") for female-friendly fornication fare, but Wave was soon to become known as Vivid's garbage bin with penny-pinching production values and sex too soft for strokers.
Still, the girls weren't going to take this kind of abuse lying down, so to speak, ABOVE THE KNEE a good representation of their valiant efforts, ultimately thwarted by enforced adherence to routine through lack of time and money. Catherine Tavel, who had co-authored Jerry Butler's notorious tell all autobiography "Raw Talent" with the late Robert Rimmer, became one of the most prolific woman screenwriters along with Raven Touchstone in '90s porn under the moniker "Ariel Hart", combining the names of Disney's Little Mermaid and legendary adult actress Veronica Hart. She had a particular knack for natural-sounding dialog but proved less successful with narrative structure, frequently dropping the ball in the third act, forcing characters to behave, well, out of character in order to reach anything resembling a satisfying conclusion. Such anomalies occurred even in some of her best work like Michael Craig's SHADES OF BLUE and Bud Lee's CENTERFOLD. Taking her cue from posh European art-house fare, Tavel has "borrowed" the premise of Eric Rohmer's esteemed yak-fest CLAIRE'S KNEE where a soon to be married diplomat develops a romantic obsession for said body part. Hapless Luke (Marc Wallice) finds himself in a similar predicament here, with the added twist that the knee belongs to his future wife's best friend Claudia (Tera Heart), a girl he otherwise detests and the feeling's mutual ! Buddy Keith (Tom Byron) thinks he just wants to get into her panties, figuring rightfully you don't have to like someone to do them. Meanwhile, Luke's girlfriend Julie (Rebecca Bardoux) is having second thoughts of her own, compounded by catty Claudia and the more live and let live Danielle (Kaitlyn Ashley) who promptly assuage her doubts by throwing her porn's idea of a wedding shower. Think Sapphic pile-up and you're halfway there, Tavel's ear for unforced banter elevating the scene well above the norm.
Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out where the story's going, which is Luke and Claudia consummating their love/hate thing, and each sequence is basically just a set-up for another sex scene but, within those confines, ABOVE THE KNEE turns out to be a more than acceptable achievement. The frantic fornicating is shot with pleasing soft lighting and a degree of style by pseudonymous-sounding "Erica English", a regular Holland contributor, who signed on to edit PT's magnificent MASSEUSE 2, but might just be another alias for the director. Holland surrounds her actresses with care and attention, so they respond in kind. Heart, in particular, shows a vivacity most of her other performances lack. A reliable second-stringer, she's best known for being the second spouse of oft-married actor/director Brad Armstrong, succeeding Dyanna Lauren and followed by Jenna Jameson and Jessica Drake. Underrated Becky Bardoux brings warmth and vulnerability to put-upon Julie, aided by her endearingly gawky Cheshire Cat grin and perpetual deer caught in the headlight bewilderment, and Ashley appears more relaxed than she has ever been, regaling in the sheer naughtiness of her double-teaming a blindfolded Tom with take charge Tera. Wallice makes for an eminently appealing blue collar anti-hero, his slightly slurred speech a good indication of his subtlety as an actor, even if it's no longer considered in good taste to praise the man. For those with only a passing interest in adult, he ended the decade with a particularly disheartening bang, semi-knowingly infecting several female performers with HIV by continuing to work with a forged blood test certificate after learning of his positive status. He predictably panicked but in an industry as, well, "hands on" as this, results swiftly careen out of control. An otherwise distinguished career of nearly two decades notwithstanding, he will now be forever marked as "patient zero" in what currently stands as the biggest AIDS scare the business has faced since the disease was discovered.
Still, the girls weren't going to take this kind of abuse lying down, so to speak, ABOVE THE KNEE a good representation of their valiant efforts, ultimately thwarted by enforced adherence to routine through lack of time and money. Catherine Tavel, who had co-authored Jerry Butler's notorious tell all autobiography "Raw Talent" with the late Robert Rimmer, became one of the most prolific woman screenwriters along with Raven Touchstone in '90s porn under the moniker "Ariel Hart", combining the names of Disney's Little Mermaid and legendary adult actress Veronica Hart. She had a particular knack for natural-sounding dialog but proved less successful with narrative structure, frequently dropping the ball in the third act, forcing characters to behave, well, out of character in order to reach anything resembling a satisfying conclusion. Such anomalies occurred even in some of her best work like Michael Craig's SHADES OF BLUE and Bud Lee's CENTERFOLD. Taking her cue from posh European art-house fare, Tavel has "borrowed" the premise of Eric Rohmer's esteemed yak-fest CLAIRE'S KNEE where a soon to be married diplomat develops a romantic obsession for said body part. Hapless Luke (Marc Wallice) finds himself in a similar predicament here, with the added twist that the knee belongs to his future wife's best friend Claudia (Tera Heart), a girl he otherwise detests and the feeling's mutual ! Buddy Keith (Tom Byron) thinks he just wants to get into her panties, figuring rightfully you don't have to like someone to do them. Meanwhile, Luke's girlfriend Julie (Rebecca Bardoux) is having second thoughts of her own, compounded by catty Claudia and the more live and let live Danielle (Kaitlyn Ashley) who promptly assuage her doubts by throwing her porn's idea of a wedding shower. Think Sapphic pile-up and you're halfway there, Tavel's ear for unforced banter elevating the scene well above the norm.
Now it doesn't take a genius to figure out where the story's going, which is Luke and Claudia consummating their love/hate thing, and each sequence is basically just a set-up for another sex scene but, within those confines, ABOVE THE KNEE turns out to be a more than acceptable achievement. The frantic fornicating is shot with pleasing soft lighting and a degree of style by pseudonymous-sounding "Erica English", a regular Holland contributor, who signed on to edit PT's magnificent MASSEUSE 2, but might just be another alias for the director. Holland surrounds her actresses with care and attention, so they respond in kind. Heart, in particular, shows a vivacity most of her other performances lack. A reliable second-stringer, she's best known for being the second spouse of oft-married actor/director Brad Armstrong, succeeding Dyanna Lauren and followed by Jenna Jameson and Jessica Drake. Underrated Becky Bardoux brings warmth and vulnerability to put-upon Julie, aided by her endearingly gawky Cheshire Cat grin and perpetual deer caught in the headlight bewilderment, and Ashley appears more relaxed than she has ever been, regaling in the sheer naughtiness of her double-teaming a blindfolded Tom with take charge Tera. Wallice makes for an eminently appealing blue collar anti-hero, his slightly slurred speech a good indication of his subtlety as an actor, even if it's no longer considered in good taste to praise the man. For those with only a passing interest in adult, he ended the decade with a particularly disheartening bang, semi-knowingly infecting several female performers with HIV by continuing to work with a forged blood test certificate after learning of his positive status. He predictably panicked but in an industry as, well, "hands on" as this, results swiftly careen out of control. An otherwise distinguished career of nearly two decades notwithstanding, he will now be forever marked as "patient zero" in what currently stands as the biggest AIDS scare the business has faced since the disease was discovered.