10 Things You Learn Rewatching Halloween (2007)

Straight-up: recasting Dr. Loomis and Laurie Strode was always going to be this movie's biggest obstacle.

In the case of Dr. Loomis, it was always going to be especially hard to find someone who could embody the role without just coming off as an imitation of Donald Pleasence's iconic work. And honestly, Zombie could have done a lot worse than Malcolm McDowell.

McDowell brings the energy and vigor to Loomis that has been a staple of his career ever since his breakout role in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. Approaching it from a completely different angle than Pleasence, McDowell's take on the character would be worthwhile, if he only had a half-decent scene in the entire script.

When it's just McDowell spinning his wheels he's fascinating but when he's doing anything central to the narrative, it's a slog. Zombie's script turns Loomis from heroic monster-hunter to fame-hungry dick looking to make a quick buck off of the Myers family's tragedy. Even when other characters in the film like Sherriff Brackett attempt to call him out on it, Zombie's script always comes down in favor of Loomis treating him as if he's still some hero.

But he isn't.

Whereas Pleasence's Loomis spent the night Michael escaped attempting to hunt him down all throughout Haddonfield, McDowell's Loomis just sits around in the police station. The end result is an infinitely more passive version of the character whose final stand against Michael rings completely hollow and leaves McDowell's performance with a whole lot of gas but nowhere to go.