Dr. Loomis

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Assigned as the psychiatrist to six-year-old Michael Myers after the boy killed his own sister, Loomis spent eight years trying to reach Myers before coming to the conclusion that he was 'purely and simply evil' and advocating that Myers never be released. Fifteen years after Myers' first murder, Loomis and colleague Marion Chambers prepare to escort Michael from Smith's Grove Sanitarium to court; Loomis plans to give Michael Thorazine to ensure he will have no chance to be released back to society. However, upon arrival they find that the sanitarium's patients are wandering loose, and in the confusion an escaped Michael steals their car. Loomis suspects Michael plans to return to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois; investigating the Haddonfield cemetery he discovers that Judith Myers' tombstone is missing. He meets with Sheriff Leigh Brackett, and the two begin their search at Michael's former home. While a skeptical Sheriff Brackett patrols the streets, the doctor stays at the house believing that Michael may desire to return 'home'. Loomis hears two children frantically fleeing a nearby house; investigating, he finds Michael attacking Laurie Strode. Loomis draws his revolver and shoots Michael six times, knocking him off the balcony, but when he goes to check Michael's body he finds it missing. An unsurprised Loomis stares off into the night, while Laurie begins sobbing in terror.

In Their Own Story

In Halloween II (1981), Laurie is taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, while Brackett accompanies Loomis in his search for Michael. The pair spots a masked figure that may be Myers, but he is struck by a car and immolated which confounds identification of the body. Sheriff Brackett learns his daughter Annie was killed by Michael, and angrily blames Loomis for letting him escape and leaves the search to Deputy Gary Hunt. Investigation of the burned corpse reveals it was not Myers, whose trail is picked up at the local elementary school. As Loomis investigates he discovers clues connecting Michael to the occult practice of Samhain, suggesting an explanation to his seeming invulnerability and murderous desire. The search is interrupted by a returning Chambers: the governor has ordered Loomis to return immediately to Smith's Grove accompanied by a US Marshal. Along the way, Marion shares that a previously sealed file reveals that Laurie is Michael's sister, adopted by the Strodes after the death of her parents. Realizing that Michael is after Laurie, Loomis forces the Marshal to drive to Haddonfield Memorial at gunpoint. The trio reach the hospital to defend Laurie. As Marion attempts to contact the police, Michael kills the Marshal and chases Loomis and Laurie into an operating theater. Michael stabs Loomis in the stomach, seriously wounding him, but Laurie blinds Michael by shooting him in the eyes. The pair fill the room with oxygen and ether. Laurie flees while Loomis ignites the flammable gases, blowing up the operating room. In the original timeline, Loomis dies in the explosion, while he miraculously survives in the Thorn Timeline (the fourth through sixth films) as he is thrown out of the room by the explosion and is knocked unconscious. Michael, engulfed in flames, staggers out of the room before finally collapsing lifeless in the original timeline, while surviving, albeit in a coma, in the Thorn Timeline.

Reader's Guide

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), which begins the Thorn Trilogy, picks the story up ten years after the events of Halloween II. Michael has been comatose since the explosion, but awakens when he learns Laurie Strode has died in a car accident, leaving behind a daughter, Jamie Lloyd. Loomis heads to Haddonfield after learning that Michael has escaped. He follows Michael to a gas station, but Myers escapes in a tow truck and causes an explosion, destroying Loomis's car in the process. Catching a ride to Haddonfield, Loomis warns the new sheriff, Ben Meeker, that Michael has returned. Michael attacks the police station and kills all of the officers. A lynch mob is formed by the town's men to kill Michael once Loomis reveals he's returned, refusing to let Michael cause a massacre and the latter goes to protect Jamie Lloyd from her uncle. After Michael Myers is shot and falls down a mine shaft, Jamie and Rachel are brought back to their foster parents' house, where Loomis arrives with Sheriff Meeker, the former being convinced that Myers has died. Without warning, Jamie stabs her foster mother giving her an appearance similar to six-year-old Michael's first kill. Sheriff Meeker prevents a horrified Loomis from shooting her as the group realizes that Jamie is following in Michael's footsteps.

Did You Know?

• Dr. Loomis's name was derived from Sam Loomis, played by John Gavin in the 1960 film Psycho.
• Donald Pleasence portrayed the character in five films, with Malcolm McDowell taking on the role in the 2007 reimagining and its sequel.
• Loomis appears on-screen in eight of the thirteen Halloween films and is mentioned or featured in photographs and audio recordings in others.
• In Halloween II (1981), Loomis is stabbed in the stomach by Michael but survives the explosion in the Thorn Timeline, while he dies in the original timeline.
• In Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), the Producer's Cut shows the Thorn symbol appearing on Loomis's wrist after Dr. Wynn dies, implying the curse has passed to him.