Michael Myers from the film franchise Halloween is certainly in the Horror Hall of Fame. But Myers would be nowhere as frightening without the classic character, Dr. Loomis.
Donald Pleasence, the incredible actor who brings Dr. Loomis to life not only had an amazing film career, but he also led an amazing life- he actually fought in World War II. Born in 1919, Pleasence first hit the stage in 1939 and wowed audiences until his passing in 1995. Even though Pleasence is no longer with us, audiences can still enjoy his body of work, especially his role as Dr. Loomis.
Dr. Loomis was the child psychiatrist of the young Michael Myers after he was sent to an asylum for murdering his family. After trying for years to rehabilitate him, Dr. Loomis then dedicated his life’s work to contain him. As said earlier, Dr. Loomis added so much more terror to the Halloween movies. Michael Myers holds his own as the mute murdering machine that can’t die, but what makes Myers so sinister are the monologues that Dr. Loomis gives to describe that pure evil that is Myers. Here’s my favorite:
” I met him, fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left. No reason, no conscience, no understanding; even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, good or evil, right or wrong. I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes… the devil’s eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy’s eyes was purely and simply…evil.”
Reading this quote alone makes the hair on the back of my neck stand.
When I look back on Pleasence’s performance through the entirety of the Halloween franchise, he was by far the best actor on the screen. He possessed a sense of poise and delivered his lines in such a way that the viewer had no choice but to pay attention. Halloween is iconic in the horror genre, and it is more than fair to say a portion of that acclaim is due to Donald Pleasence and his expert portrayal of Dr. Loomis.