by Some characters cannot exist without their interpreter. This is the case of Dr. Loomis in the “Halloween” saga, whose destiny, influenced by the reactions of the public, was modified after the death of Donald Pleautsence.
Attention spoilers! This article reveals the end of “Halloween 6: the curse of Michael Myers” (1995).
It takes a whole village to make a film. But the importance of each person, and in particular of the actors, is debated. Are they simply interchangeable cogs, or their work to give life to fictitious characters, does it mean that these characters cannot exist without them?
The franchises answer this question differently. Some spend millions to keep their biggest stars. Others do not hesitate to call on several actors for roles like Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes and James Bond. Sometimes characters like Spider-Man and Batman can even be interpreted by several actors simultaneously.
And what happens when an actor disappears? Some sagas have no choice: sometimes the character simply does not exist without his actor. Some films have managed the death of one of their stars by fiction catching reality. Some have done their best to go to the end, even if it required costly innovations in special effects.
In the case of Dr. Loomis of the Halloween saga, production had to listen to the public during test projections, sealing the fate of the character forever in Halloween 6: the curse of Michael Myers.
Dr. Loomis’s fate changed
Donald Pleasence was perhaps not a prominent star but few actors were as successful as him in the world of gender films on a low budget. Pleasence played in more than 200 films and television series during his almost half-century career, ranging from the role of Blofeld, the sworn enemy of James Bond, in We only live twice in his role in Frankenstein’s Great Tillie.
But he finally had his hour of glory in 1978 with Halloween, the night of the masksthe film made him an icon of horror, in the role of Dr. Sam Loomis, the psychologist who tracked the serial killer Michael Myers for five films. His voice, with a hoarse British accent, gave seriousness to the doctor’s fatal warnings.
Films dimension Halloween 6: the curse of Michael Myers (1995)
As Looper recalls, when he died in 1995, Donald pleasence had already turned his last appearance in the role of Loomis for Halloween 6: the curse of Michael Myerswhich revealed that the murderous habits and the apparent immortality of Michael were the result of the old “Thorn curse” that Druids had launched him. The initially planned end would have transmitted this curse to Loomis – the character had to survive – but the public test was not convinced, so that the studio had to turn a new end without the late pleasence.
Thus, the version released in theaters in 1995 was similar to the actor’s real fate. In the final scene, after having apparently defeated Michael once again in an abandoned hospital, Loomis remains on site to repair its damage. We then hear a cry, suggesting that he joined his interpreter in the afterlife …
Halloween 6: Michael Myers’ curse can be found in VOD.
