David Cronenberg's is one of cinema's best and boldest auteurs, and at first glance, Total Recall - eventually made by Paul Verhoeven - seems like a good match for the sex and body mutilation-obsessed Canadian. Originally Cronenberg set out to write a version based on Philip K. Dick's short story, but the studio eventually decided that they wanted something along the lines of "Raiders of the Lost Ark on Mars" instead, and Cronenberg was shut out. Would It Have Been Any Good? Verhoeven's Total Recall is a brilliant exercise in sci-fi exploitation, and we wouldn't change it for the world. But Cronenberg would have likely crafted something equally as interesting (though not perhaps quite as bloody). Apparently the director envisioned a shape-shifting version of Kuato which transformed into a "phosphorescent vagina," which is absolutely something that Cronenberg would definitely conjure up. Now it kind of does seem like a missed opportunity, hm?