John Carpenter’s Halloween and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho have more in common than just being classic horror films – they both have a character named Sam Loomis, which has prompted a theory on how they are related. Hitchcock’s psychological horror film Psycho, based on the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, was released in 1960. Meanwhile, Halloween was released in 1978 and introduced slasher killer Michael Myers, who seems to be immortal as he has appeared in all sequels (except Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which is not part of the Myers saga).
Halloween has been compared to Psycho many times, with some considering it the first of many slasher films inspired by Hitchcock’s film. All that depends on each person’s perspective, but what’s true is that there’s a link between the two films through the character of Sam Loomis. In Psycho, Sam Loomis (played by John Gavin) was Marion Crane’s (Janet Leigh) boyfriend. Along with Marion’s sister, Lila (Vera Miles), he discovered the truth about Norman Bates, his mother, and the motel where Marion was killed. In Halloween, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) was Michael Myer’s psychiatrist, treating him since he arrived to Smith Grove’s Sanitarium after killing his sister when he was six years-old.
Dr. Loomis’ name has been confirmed to be taken from Psycho’s Sam Loomis, but this has made way for a theory about these characters, suggesting they are the same. After the (traumatic) events in Psycho, Sam Loomis decided to dedicate his life to make sure events like those never happen again, and became a psychiatrist, specializing in child psychiatry. Loomis moved out of Arizona to Haddonfield, Illinois, to start a new life, and once there started working at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium.
It’s at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium that Loomis would meet a young Michael Myers, who was taken there after going on his killing spree. Loomis was obsessed with killing Michael Myers, which isn’t exactly the most rational reaction from a psychiatrist; it’s possible he reacted like this because he had dealt with another psycho killer before, and wasn’t going to let more murders happen on his watch. In the official Halloween timeline, Dr. Loomis died in the 1990s and was subsequently replaced by Dr. Ranbir Sartain, who appeared in the 2018 film.
Of course, the connection between both Sam Loomis characters hasn’t been acknowledged by John Carpenter, and it most likely never will, but it’s a fun (and not crazy, like other theories) way to connect two of the most important films in the horror genre. What is true is that Halloween paid tribute to Psycho by naming this character after Sam Loomis, and whether there’s something else behind that or not is something only Carpenter and Debra Hill know.
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