Dr. Loomis survived Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, but the original script featured a different fate for the character. Halloween is one of the most beloved franchises in horror, with John Carpenter’s 1978 original seen by many as an untouchable classic. However, with each sequel, audiences were less and less pleased, leading up to the fittingly titled sixth entry The Curse of Michael Myers. Even if it's one of the weakest movies in the series, Halloween 6 is notable for being the last to feature Donald Pleasence in the role of Dr. Sam Loomis, as the actor would pass away eight months before the release of the sequel.
Despite this, Loomis survives to the end of the movie, with his audible scream cryptically being the final sound of the film. This wasn’t always the case, however. In an interview with HalloweenMovies, screenwriter Daniel Farrands expounded on what Dr. Loomis’ original fate was. In Farrands’ original vision, Loomis was to have a battle with Wynn, a character originally meant to be played by horror legend Christopher Lee.
Once the Cult of Thorn member was dispatched and Michael Myers was again on the loose, Loomis would ask why he had not been taken too. Michael would have suddenly appeared out of the darkness and slashed his throat to suddenly end the film, a grim fate that, unsurprisingly, was not well-received. Farrands also explained this shocking ending was an homage to another John Carpenter flick, 1980’s The Fog. In the final scene of The Fog, the heroes have seemingly managed to escape to safety. The titular fog has retreated, as well as the vengeful revenants, leaving Father Malone by his lonesome to contemplate the reasons behind his survival. His musing would be cut short, however, as he would be decapitated before the film suddenly cut to credits.
A variety of factors led to the survival of Dr. Loomis in Halloween 6, not the least of which being Pleasence’s desire to play the character “until Halloween 22.” Be that as it may, the shock of the original ending may have been ahead of its time. Prestige television series like Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead made the killing of beloved characters a regular occurrence and fodder for water-cooler conversation. Such a sudden demise for a franchise stalwart would have driven home the idea Michael Myers is everywhere and not a single soul is safe from his wrath.
Pleasence’s portrayal of Dr. Sam Loomis is one of the most beloved in the genre, providing a gravitas to the Halloween films not seen in other franchises. And while the character’s constant presence is almost as important to the original films as that of Michael or Laurie, had Donald Pleasence's Dr. Loomis suddenly being killed in Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers, it may have added a different dimension to the series.