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With his unique look and creepy voice which never seemed to rise above a whisper, Donald Pleasance was perfectly suited for roles in the horror genre. He thrilled audiences throughout his career, and he racked up an impressive 200 + screen credits. Among horror fans, however, he’ll always be best known as Dr. Sam Loomis from the Halloween franchise. Below, I present the top 10 Donald Pleasance movies.
10. Dracula (1979) – In this version of Dracula starring Frank Langella, Pleasance plays Dr. Jack Seward, the father of potential victim Lucy Seward and the caretaker of the local insane asylum. Although the film performed modestly at the box office, it’s enjoyed a bit of a resurgence in recent years due to release on the home video market.
9. Will Penny – Pleasance plays Preacher Quint, the bible-thumping patriarch of the ruthless Quint family (which also includes Bruce Dern). He and his boys make the mistake of going up against Will Penny (Charlton Heston), and they pay for it with their lives.
8. THX 1138 – In this 1971 sci-fi film from George Lucas, Pleasance plays SEN 5241, a treacherous technician in a dystopian future. Parts of his dialogue were taken from actual speeches by Richard Nixon, so you know the character has to be slimy.
7. The Eagle Has Landed – The Nazis hatch a plot to kidnap Winston Churchill and bring him to Berlin in this adaptation of the Jack Higgins novel. An action-packed movie, it stars Michael Caine, Robert Duvall and Donald Sutherland. Pleasance appears as Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS.
6. Prince of Darkness – In the basement beneath an old church, a strange, liquid-filled canister is discovered by a devoted priest (Pleasance). When scientists and researchers gather to study the find, they soon realize that what’s inside is a horrible and ancient evil. Great horror flick from John Carpenter, and one of the many collaborations between the two.
5. Escape from New York – Yet another collaboration between Carpenter and Pleasance. This time around, Pleasance plays the President of the United States whose plane has just crashed onto the prison island of Manhattan. With time running out, it’s now up to a badass named Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) to go inside and rescue him.
4. You Only Live Twice – The fifth film in the James Bond franchise, You Only Live Twice starred Sean Connery as the legendary 007. Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the evil head of SPECTRE, was played by Donald Pleasance, and this portrayal was largely the basis for the hilarious character of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers films.
3. Shadows and Fog – Directed by Woody Allen and based on his one-act play Death. Pleasance appears as a doomed doctor hunting for a serial killer. Much to the horror of Kleinman (Allen), the doctor explains his excitement about opening up the head and chest of a killer and seeing what’s inside. Before he can manage this, however, the killer pays the doctor a visit of his own.
2. Halloween – Pleasance plays Dr. Sam Loomis in perhaps the most famous role of his career. The longtime physician of the psychotic Michael Myers, Loomis spends the first few years trying to help the troubled child, and then the remaining years trying to keep him locked up. Pleasance would perform as Loomis in five Halloween films, although the first film of the series (directed by John Carpenter) was easily the best.
1. The Great Escape – Telling the story of a mass Allied escape from a German POW camp during World War II, this film stars such notables as Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, and, of course, Donald Pleasance. In The Great Escape, he plays a member of the RAF who nearly goes blind while forging important documents by candlelight.
This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Best Horror Actors, Best Horror Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.