Michael Craig's best pornos appeared in the early '90s before he went
mainstream under a different name.
In Cat and Mouse, "Scott
Irish and the lovely Cassidy are a happily married couple, but things
go awry when Jeanna Fine gets Scott on the phone one night and gets
him all worked up with her carnal quirks. Once Scott is hooked, Jeanna
and her friends make life wild and weird and incredibly erotic for this
average twosome. We first hook up with Fine as she's randomly calling
phone numbers and making indecent innuendoes. This gets out dirty talkin'
gal into a lather and she and Sikki Nixx get it on." (AFW 96D p.252-253)
Someone Else appeared
in 1992. "Randy West and Ashlynn Gere star as live-in lovers feeling
pinched after ten years together. When genial weirdo West screws Gere
wearing his bunny slippers, its the last straw." (AFW 96D p.269)
Ashlyn Gere also stars
in 1991's Imagine as a frustrated executive "who becomes overwhelmed
with sexual fantasies after putting business before pleasure for too
long." (AFW 96D p.258)
Michael Craig's Body
and Soul was held back from release for three years because it became
the centerpeice of a lawsuit intended to set a "community standard"
for what sexually explicit videos would be protected in Memphis, Tennessee,
and what wouldn't. The lawsuit failed, so Pinnacle released the tape
to the public and it turns out to be excellent. Ashlyn Gere appears
in top form just prior to signing with Vivid.
Sex Under Glass. "Sinking
into a spiraling addiction to voyeurism, Victoria Paris goes from demure
to depraved in this disturbing gem. Peppered with half-a-dozen sex scenes
- some sleazy, some elegant, all scorching - Vicky risks her marriage
to Peter North as her dark side bubbles to the surface. Reality blurs
with video as she tapes couples getting it on in a Bates-style motel."
(AVN 97)
Pat Riley reviews 1992's
Shades of Blue. "Craig directed some good movies in mid 1992 but
has got into a rut. The movies start to blur into a mixture of great
photography, great sound, well made up women and good attempts at characterization
but he's not saying anything new. Craig doesn't help himself by constantly
using Mike Horner as the lead. He overacts and is physically unpleasant....
I also have a problem with a porno that constantly switches during sex;
you begin fantasizing about screwing Nikki and the scene cuts... After
a couple of such scenes, one gets the message that it's not worth getting
into any of the sex in the movie... Craig has fallen victim to PT [Paul
Thomas] syndrome: lots of relationship psychobabble and an eye on the
female soap opera market (if such exists for porno)." (X-Rated
Videotape Guide 4, p. 508)