Director David Cronenberg has been shocking and horrifying film audiences for decades, and his knack for the extreme seems to have influenced his son Brandon. Antiviral is the directorial debut for the younger Cronenberg, and the creepy trailer makes it clear the apple doesn't fall far from the family tree. From Blastr:

The film is set in a world where celebrity overload has hit critical mass, and people actually pay money to be infected by the viruses of the rich and famous, just to get a little closer to feeling the fame.

[blastr]

Before Paul Verhoeven made 1990s Total Recall, David Cronenberg pitched his own vision of the film, which would have hewed more closely to the source material (Philip K. Dick's story We Can Remember It For You Wholesale) than Verhoeven's action flick did.

Over at io9, artist Ron Miller has released a big batch of concept art from that never-was Cronenberg film -- the director went on to make The Fly instead -- and it gives a good look at the Total Recall that could have been.

What do you think? Would it have topped the Schwarzenegger-starring version?

[io9.]