In 1974, Shusett's psychological thriller screenplay
W was produced by
Bing Crosby Productions into a film directed by
Richard Quine and starring
Twiggy. That same year, Shusett optioned the
Philip K. Dick short story, "
We Can Remember It for You Wholesale", that became the basis of the film
Total Recall. It was during this time he met his writing partner
Dan O'Bannon, after being impressed by his student film
Dark Star. The two wrote several spec scripts, with the one entitled
Star Beast eventually evolving into
Alien (1979). The final script was heavily re-written by producers
Walter Hill and
David Giler, but in the end Dan O'Bannon received sole screenwriting credit, while O'Bannon and Shusett shared story credit. Off the success of
Alien, Shusett wrote or co-wrote the horror films
Phobia (1980),
Dead & Buried (1981), and
The Final Terror (1983). During the decade, he formed a new writing partnership with
Steven Pressfield. Together they wrote the monster adventure film
King Kong Lives (1986), the
Steven Seagal film
Above the Law (1988), and the sci-fi action film
Freejack (1992). They were uncredited script doctors on Seagal's next film
Hard to Kill (1990). Shusett (with Dan O'Bannon) was the writer and producer of the 1990
Arnold Schwarzenegger film
Total Recall, a project he had begun 16 years prior. He likewise received a story credit for the
2012 remake of Total Recall. ==Death==