Donald Pleasance originated the role of Halloween's Dr. Loomis, but it was taken over by Malcolm McDowell for Rob Zombie's remake and its sequel. By its very nature, horror tends to be a villain-centered genre. After all, the monster, slasher, demon, ghost, or other variety of creature or killer is often the main draw for horror fans. Occasionally though, a worthy horror hero pops up, such as Evil Dead's Ash Williams, Aliens' Ellen Ripley, and Phantasm's Reggie.

While he might not be quite as much of a badass as the aforementioned characters, Dr. Sam Loomis is definitely a heroic character, at least in the early Halloween films. He puts his own life at risk on more than one occasion to try and end Michael Myers' killing sprees, and also spent many years trying to keep Michael locked up, even if it turned out to be all for naught. As Loomis puts it, he knew that what lied behind Michael's black eyes and emotionless face was purely and simply evil.

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Dr. Loomis went on quite a journey over the course of five original Halloween films and the two Rob Zombie-directed efforts. As much flack as Zombie's Halloween movies get though, casting a formidable actor like Malcolm McDowell in the role that Donald Pleasance made famous was certainly an inspired move.

Who Was A Better Dr. Loomis? Pleasance vs. McDowell

Halloween - Rob Zombie and John Carpenter Dr. Loomis

While the battle between the late Donald Pleasance and A Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell over the title of best Dr. Loomis actor might seem like a slam dunk for Pleasance, it's actually not that simple. Sure, many fans feel Rob Zombie's movies ruined the Loomis character by making him a pompous jerk in Halloween 2, but the blame for that shouldn't lie at McDowell's feet. He didn't write the script, he just performed the character as written to the best of his considerable abilities. As jarring as it may be for Loomis to be such an arrogant windbag, McDowell excels in such roles, and that's meant in the nicest possible way. It doesn't exactly fit Loomis, but McDowell is still fun to watch work.

As for Pleasance, his work as Dr. Loomis would make him an instant horror legend, and he remained a welcome presence in the genre until his death in 1995. Pleasance also got to indulge another side of Loomis in Halloween 4-6 than he did in the first two as well, with a scarred and crazed Loomis seeming to lose more and more of his sanity the longer he spends fighting Michael Myers. In Halloween 5, Loomis utterly terrifies Jamie Lloyd with his unhinged behavior, even if his end goal is still the same, and that's to save lives. In the end, Pleasance wins out as the better Loomis, but it's a closer contest than most fans would likely predict. Pleasance shows more range and is a bit more low-key with his mannerisms, at least in the earlier Halloween films, which works well for the character.

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