Paul Thomas's "The Masseuse" and its Jenna Jameson remake stand out among the best Adult features ever made, and this forgotten followup to the Hyapatia Lee starring original is magnificent in its own right. It demonstrates the legitimate theater approach PT often took toward directing movies, and it works in both the dramatic and the sex scenes.
I saw this one back in the VHS era, and it holds up well watching it recently on DVD. One key element contributing to its success is the use of concise, brief sex scenes, packing in 7 of them in less than an hour and a half running time, counter to today's XXX wherein only 2 or 3 elongated "real-time" sex vignettes would fit.
Playing like a soap opera, we watch the travails of Ashlyn Gere as a prostitute who's nominal profession is masseuse. Her strong dramatic performance dominates the film, but there are many other interesting characters. In a non-sex role as a budding screenwriter, Candy Marie Saint is terrific, while fellow hooker Asia Carrera shares the XXX burden with Gere.
Nominal bad guys are well-limned by Randy West and Steven St. Croix, and the drama builds to violent and strong climax, with Asia's hubby Bud Lee cameo performance near the end as a priest.
A perfect example of the dividing line between today's mindless porn and the Golden Era (plus followups, this one having been made a decade after the cinema-exhibition era ended) predecessors.
