Samuel Loomis

Scott Froehlich describes Loomis in Halloween "as the uncommissioned bounty hunter attempting to return his patient to the institution. His character provides insight into Myers’ motives, or lack thereof, and fills the audience in on how disturbed the masked murderer truly is."[18] Brad Miska refers to Loomis as the film's "hero figure" who calls Michael "it" in a series of acts of depersonalization of his patient. Miska explains Loomis as believing Michael is inhuman, furthering that Loomis spends much of the film as "one of the few individuals (but not the only one) to fear and acknowledge the threat Michael presents and immediately speculates that he will return to Haddonfield – and we, of course, know he’s right."[19] Josh Greally calls Loomis one of film's "greatest harbingers of doom" and adds that in spite of Loomis barely interacting with Myers in the film, Loomis "instils a sense of fear in the audience for how calmly assured he is of Michael's evil nature. He knows what Michael is capable of and that he is the only one who can stop him."[20] Doug Bradley observes that Dr. Loomis "spends a lot of the film warning people they don’t know what they are dealing with" and this provides Michael with "this supernatural, mysterious element that made him so powerful."[21] Dustin Putman views Pleasence as having brought "authority, dignity, and vulnerability" to the Loomis role and defines the character as "a man who once cared for Michael, who can't help but feel as if he still shares a bond with him, but who has grown wearisome because he now knows that there is no way of getting through to him."[22]

Commentary on Loomis in the original film extends to discussing how his character relates to Laurie Strode. David McCallister notes the differences between Loomis and Laurie in their interactions with Michael in the original film that work together to form "a fantastic dynamic with" Myers that also demonstrates "an underlying look at how some perceive evil and how others like Loomis see mental health and the 'science' of people like Michael Myers."[23] SciFiFX credits the film for focusing on Laurie more than Loomis, viewing him as being efficient "at telling everyone what sort of evil this man is. He makes sure everyone knows what sort of creature he believes Michael to be."[24] M. Keith Booker, who saw Loomis as "playing the strict father to Michael", observes that "Loomis’s pursuit of Michael is so relentless that he becomes a sort of stalker figure in his own right, providing a third term that complicates the eventual moral opposition between Michael and innocent Final Girl Laurie Strode that enhances the allegorical structure of the film by providing a figure of righteous masculine authority so uncompromising that he becomes a sort of official representative of the structures and systems that somehow created Michael in the first place."[25]

In Halloween 2, Geoff Cox asserts, viewers "witness Loomis grow increasingly more exasperated that Michael’s still on the loose, confused about how he took bullets to the chest and walked away but vindicated in his belief that Myers is less a man and more a force of pure evil."[26] Devon Elson observes that the early demise of a Michael lookalike "mechanically serves as a narrative reset to have the police disbelieve Loomis again."[27] John Hansen notes Loomis being blamed by Brackett for his daughter Annie's death despite Loomis spending years trying to keep Michael contained, and reasons that "there would be ample reason for Loomis to lose his mind, but as far as I can tell, his behavior and actions are perfectly in line with the reality of Michael’s killing spree".[28] Seth Harris assesses that Loomis "really goes over the deep end throughout" the second film and becomes a lunatic just as out of control as Michael himself. Harris opines that this is when Loomis works best, as "a madman, obsessed with killing this force of nature, he feels responsible for."[29] Kayleena Pierce-Bohen praises Halloween II as being where Pleasence shaped "Loomis into a more complex hero" who helped create the Myers mythos: "If Myers is the ultimate evil, then Dr. Loomis is the ultimate force for good, standing up to the forces of darkness with kindness in his heart, over and over again."[30]

Loomis is depicted in Halloween 4 with burn scars from his near-fatal injuries at the end of Halloween 2. Alan Smithee observed Loomis as "more world weary than ever" with physical scars to evidence his worry.[31] Adam Tyner wrote that Loomis served as "more than just connective tissue with the first two films in the franchise. It makes the world of Haddonfield feel more real...more lived-in...that there are consequences that linger and matter."[32] Jack Wilhelmi viewed the inclusion of the Jamie Lloyd character as giving both Loomis and Michael "a tremendous amount of depth and characterization" and "a foil to build off of and play against."[33] "Within this fourth installment, Loomis brought sympathy and tragedy because of his elderly age," wrote Rodolfo Salas, who equated Pleasence's performance to that of a father who had failed their child and whose attempts to reach Michael "brought about a sense of care, depression, and exhaustion." Salas also notes the contrast between Loomis and his knowledge of Michael and Jamie and her being "nearly unaware of her murderous uncle."[34] Patrick Bromley, who cited the Halloween 4 iteration of the character as his favorite version of Loomis outside of the 1978 film, opined that Loomis's "concern isn't so much for Michael's sanity anymore; it's barely even for the safety of Haddonfield's residents" and that the film "is where Loomis really gives in to obsession, and it's interesting to see the character slide closer and closer to the brink of crazy."[35] James Berardinelli called Pleasence "the stabilizing influence" in his review of Halloween 4 and observed that "the character of Dr. Sam Loomis, even as beaten and broken as he is in the later installments, represents a rock of solidity. The ending of Halloween 4 would not have been as effective without Pleasance's entirely convincing reaction of unimaginable horror."[36]

The Halloween 5 iteration of Loomis is described as "increasingly unbalanced" by Jason Barr,[37] and as having "apparently lost his mind" by Jesse Sparks, the latter viewing Loomis as having developed an evident mistrust in Jamie and that "his motivations have changed from public servant to becoming strictly personal."[38] Derek Anderson assesses the film as depicting Loomis with an increased obsession with Michael that has been "pushed to a dangerous and almost selfish level." Anderson explains that Loomis views himself as the only one who can stop Michael and "knowing that he may not have much time left on this Earth, his growing obsession with ending Myers at any cost is a believable progression in a character who has dedicated the second half of his life to containing and obliterating the evil that lives within Michael—even if it means putting Jamie squarely in harm’s way."[39] Berardinelli theorizes that "one could construct an argument that the good doctor’s obsession, combined with the various physical and mental experiences he has gone through, might have taken him off the deep end" and that Loomis could be argued as having become just as deranged as Michael.[40]

Daniel Farrands, writer of The Curse of Michael Myers, cited his intent to give Loomis an arc in the film, depicting Loomis as living in seclusion and seemingly having put his past with Michael behind him while writing a book about his patient. Farrands explained, "I thought that was a great way to start with him. Start him in a place of relative peace and end up right back in hell." He wanted the film to conclude "with this incredible battle for Michael Myers' soul between the good doctor and the evil doctor" and that he had written the part of Dr. Wynn with "the idea of casting a serious equal for Donald."[41] Culture Crypt notes that Loomis "never even confronts Michael Myers one single time in Halloween 6, often doing his own thing on a parallel arc to what Tommy Doyle and the Strodes do on the main one."[42] Mark Ziobro expresses that Loomis "is not so much ranting and raving about how evil Michael is, but has accepted it" and has become a realist. Ziobro furthers that the filmmakers ran with the belief that Michael was unstoppable, as espoused by Loomis, "and leave his continued existence unanswered."[43] In the first appearance of Loomis in the film, he is listening to a radio host who mistakes him as having been deceased, to which he replies, "Not dead, just very much retired." Richard Harrington,[44] and Alan Jones have noted the line as being an epitaph for Pleasence.[45]

Due to both being doctors who serve as the archenemy to a supernatural antagonist, a number of commentators have compared Loomis to Dracula foe Abraham Van Helsing; the list includes Kyron Lewis,[46] Christian Bone,[47] Tony Fyler,[48] Cody Hamman,[49] and Padraig Cotter.[50] Alternatively, Wicked Horror's Nat Brehmer argues, "Sam Loomis is not, when you break the character down and really study him, the Van Helsing of the Halloween series because Van Helsing was brought into the middle of a story he had no personal stake in." Brehmer likens Loomis to a personification of the Cassandra myth as Loomis is "someone who basically has a premonition" and "tries to warn everyone, and nobody listens, so exactly what he was trying to stop from happening just happens as scheduled."[51]

Carpenter's first choice for the role of Dr. Loomis was Peter Cushing, famous for his roles in Hammer Horror films; however, as he had just been in the high-profile Star Wars, Cushing's agent rejected the offer out of hand due to the low salary.[52] Christopher Lee was also approached for the role; he too turned it down, although the actor would later tell Carpenter and Hill that declining the role was the biggest mistake he made during his career.[53] Producer Irwin Yablans then suggested Pleasence, who agreed to star because his daughter Lucy, a guitarist, had enjoyed Assault on Precinct 13 for Carpenter's score.[54] Nancy Stephens reflected, "The thrill for me in the first Halloween was that I got to work with Donald Pleasence."[55] Tony Moran, who briefly portrays Michael when his mask is removed, initially refused to do the film until learning that Pleasence was involved.[56] While filming the final scene of the movie, where Michael is revealed to have disappeared after being shot by Loomis and falling off a balcony, Pleasence asked Carpenter if he should do an expression of surprise or an "I knew it'?" Carpenter, "too naive to know the right answer", asked Pleasence if he could do both, to which Pleasence complied.[57]

Halloween II was supposed to be the last film in the Halloween franchise to revolve around Michael Myers.[58] After the 1982 release of Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the lowest performing film in the series at the time,[59] executive producer Moustapha Akkad wanted to make a sequel that brought back Michael Myers.[60] On February 25, 1988, writer Alan B. McElroy, a Cleveland, Ohio native, was brought in to write the script for Halloween 4.[61] McElroy wanted to open the film with Loomis being thrown from the explosion at the end of Halloween II as a way of explaining how he survived. This was vetoed by director Dwight H. Little, who "didn't want to get tied up with a lot of 'logic police' questions about Michael and exactly what happened to Dr. Loomis, exactly what happened at the end of the hospital [sequence]." Little furthered that he did not want to be influenced by anything besides the original film.[62]

In reprising his role in Halloween 4, Pleasence became the only actor from the first two films to return.[63] According to Little, Pleasence was "committed conceptually" to the role, but did not sign on to the project until having read a finished screenplay.[64] Little reflected that he had been impressed by Pleasence's performance in The Great Escape (1963). He asserted that Pleasence "carried a lot of film history and he carried a lot of weight as an actor" but was open to collaborating on scenes and Little would arrange a schedule to accommodate his health: "I did notice that after about four or five hours he would get quite tired. I don’t know if that was age or he was suffering with something. I started working with the AD to make sure we would do anything demanding in those first four to six hours, then for the last few hours just take it easy with him."[65] Ellie Cornell, who portrayed Rachel Carruthers in Halloween 4 and its sequel, called working with Pleasence "a huge honour" and recalled that Pleasence could "nail his scenes" very quickly before leaving. According to Cornell, Pleasence would stay at a different hotel from the rest of the cast and "was kind of on his own, but he was just tremendously professional, just so supportive."[66] Pleasance portrayed the character until his death in 1995;[67] Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was released posthumously and dedicated to his memory.

In 1998's Halloween H20, the voice of Dr. Loomis is heard giving the same speech that he gave to Sheriff Brackett when they were inside Michael's abandoned childhood home in the original film. Sound-alike voice actor Tom Kane provided this voice-over rather than archival recordings of Pleasance.[68] An audio recording of Loomis is featured in 2018's Halloween; Loomis is voiced by Colin Mahan.[69][70] For Halloween Kills, Loomis was physically portrayed by the film's construction foreman Tom Jones Jr., whose resemblance to Pleasance was enhanced with prosthetic makeup; Mahan again provided the voice via dubbing.[71]

Empire ranked Loomis as the 18th best horror movie character.[73] In 2016, Dread Central ranked Loomis in second place (only behind Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates) on their Top 5 Most Powerful Performances in Horror History Since 1960! list, opining that Pleasence spoke "with pitch-perfectly clear intention" and created "one of the greatest characters in film history" in the original film.[74] Screen Rant listed Loomis as the second best Halloween character (behind Michael Myers), asserting that "Pleasance truly gives one of the best performances in Horror films as the determined doctor."[75] /Film cites Loomis as the greatest character John Carpenter made over his five-decade career.[76] Joe Puccio described Loomis as legendary and called Pleasence "arguably the crown jewel of the series".[77] Meagan Navarro called Loomis the pillar of the Halloween franchise and asserted that "Pleasance always gave Loomis his all, no matter where the story took his character."[78] Matthew Chernov of the Chicago Tribune asserts that Pleasence gave credibility to Loomis' ominous warnings and that the actor "never gave anything less than 100 percent on screen", citing this as the reason "why, for many fans, he remains the series' stealth MVP."[79]

Justin Davis of Complex praised Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis for "star-making performances" in Halloween.[80] Ron Pennington of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Pleasence as Loomis provided "a strong presence, but it’s basically a one-dimensional role, designed to provide necessary plot information."[81] Berardinelli referred to Pleasence as the "saving grace of Halloween II" and that the film "belongs to Loomis, the gun-toting action figure who arrives in the nick of time and has more good one-liners than everyone else put together."[82] Discussing Halloween 4, Vinnie Mancuso cited Pleasence as "absolutely hamming it up to a new level".[83] Cox wrote that bringing back Pleasence as Loomis was one of the "major things" Halloween 4 did correctly and that the film was "anchored by solid performances from Pleasence and Harris".[84] Reviewing The Curse of Michael Myers, Ben Martin lauded Pleasence for giving "a good performance again. So good in fact that I’m reminded of why I liked Loomis in the first place."[85]

While admitting that Loomis was "the most interesting" character in Halloween 4, Edison Smith viewed him as suffering the most from the film's repetition of the Myers storyline, with Pleasence's "once-iconic turn beginning to smack of self-parody" whose only growth was "becoming a John McClane style action hero who crashes through windows and leaps fifty feet through the air to avoid gas station explosions".[86] The character's portrayal in Halloween 5 has also received negative reception,[87][88] with Richard Harrington of the Los Angeles Times rebuking Pleasence for giving "a flat two-note performance".[89] A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club writes that by the time of Halloween 5, "Donald Pleasence’s shtick had shaded into self-parody. He spends most of this regrettable fourth sequel bellowing into a little girl’s face like a lunatic."[90] Commentary was directed toward the reduced role of Loomis in The Curse of Michael Myers,[91] with Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle calling the role "hardly more than an extended cameo",[92] and Jeremy Nichols lamenting that Pleasence's "role was cut down significantly so we don’t get to see him much."[93] Eric Hatch[94] and Berardinelli, both of whom disliked the sixth film, bemoaned that it was Pleasence's last appearance in the series,[95] with Sparks asserting that "Pleasance deserved better, especially at the end of his career."[96]

Loomis has been featured in merchandise. In 2020, NECA released a figure of Loomis alongside Laurie Strode based on their appearance in Halloween II (1981).[97] NECA produced a two-pack of 7-inch figures of Loomis and Michael from Halloween II to celebrate the film's fortieth anniversary the following year.[98]

Loomis has also been referenced in media. In the season eight episode of The Simpsons entitled "Hurricane Neddy", after Dr. Foster discovers that Ned Flanders has gone mad, he states, "May god have mercy on us all!" The episode's DVD commentary clarifies this as a reference to Loomis' reaction to Michael escaping at the start of the original film.[99] In the 2010 The Boondocks episode "Smokin' with Cigarettes", the Dr. Doomis character is based on Loomis and voiced by his H20 voice actor Tom Kane.[100] In the 1996 film Scream, Skeet Ulrich's character Billy Loomis is named after him.[101] The fifth film in the Scream series stars Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter, who is revealed to be Billy's daughter, with her technical name being a nod to the Halloween character. Nicholas Brooks of Comic Book Resources writes extensively on the connections between Barrera and Pleasence's characters.[102] In the 1985 Mexican slasher film Cemetery of Terror, Hugo Stiglitz plays the psychiatrist of the film's antagonist in a role inspired by Loomis.[103] In the 2002 film Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat, John McConnell and Mark McLachlan play detectives Dave Loomis and Mike Myers, named after the Halloween characters.[104] Max Gail plays a character named Sam Loomis in an episode of NCIS; the episode also features characters named after Halloween characters Tommy Doyle and Bob Simms.[105] Jamie Lee Curtis described her portrayal of Laurie Strode in the 2018 Halloween film as being similar to Loomis: "Laurie has been traumatized and Laurie also understands Michael Myers in a way that nobody else does. So, in a weird way, she’s become the new Loomis character because Loomis was the one who understood that he [Michael] needed to be stopped because he was pure evil."[106]

• Little, Dwight H. (2013) [2006]. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (Audio commentary; Blu-ray). Anchor Bay Entertainment/Scream Factory.
• Smith, Steve; et al. (2003). Halloween: A Cut Above the Rest (Documentary). Prometheus Entertainment.