Donald Pleasence is one of those classic underrated actors who some might not know by name, though they've likely seen at least one film he was featured in. Born in 1919, he started appearing in movies during the 1950s, achieving considerable success in the 1960s and '70s thanks to some high-profile roles, and continued working up until 1995, which was the year he passed away at the age of 75.
He's particularly well-known for starring in several films within an iconic horror series popular around October, making the spooky season a perfect time to reflect on his filmography. Pleasence was far more than just a horror actor, though, appearing in key supporting (and often villainous) roles in various films across a wide array of genres. Some of his best roles and films are ranked below, starting with the good and ending with the great.
10 'Halloween II' (1981)
No one will claim that Halloween II trumps the iconic original from 1978, but at least there was some effort put into this sequel being a continuation. Maybe it made sense, given the open ending of the first movie, and though John Carpenter's presence is missed (he didn't direct this one), at least Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence reprise their roles as Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis respectively.
After surviving the terrifying Michael Myers in the first film, Laurie becomes targeted once more and finds staying inside a hospital does little to protect her. Once again, the film attempts to be an atmospheric and tense horror/thriller, though there is a slight feeling of diminishing returns, even with Halloween II being competent and both Curtis and Pleasence returning to their roles with confidence.
9 'The Caretaker' (1963)
The Caretaker has a small cast, confined setting, and an emphasis on being a drama above all else. Given how stripped back everything is, it shouldn't be surprising to hear that The Caretaker was indeed an adaptation of a play that was originally written by famed playwright Harold Pinter (he's also credited as the screenwriter for this 1963 film).
It's about two brothers, one of whom lets an old homeless man (played by Pleasence) live in his house and be its caretaker, while the other decides to torment the older man. Tension builds, and things feel increasingly uneasy, with Donald Pleasence excelling here while playing someone considerably older than he actually was at the time (he was in his early to mid-40s when The Caretaker was released).
8 'Death Line' (1972)
An underrated British horror film featuring Donald Pleasence and fellow horror icon Christopher Lee, Death Line is a quietly unsettling movie about a series of disappearances. They're all linked to the London Underground train lines, with the severity and frequency of such disappearances causing various characters to all begin investigating the area.
The dark will always be scary, especially when that darkness reaches out a great distance and could be hiding untold things within it. This is something Death Line understands well and effectively utilizes to be creepy throughout. Even if it's a little simple at the end of the day, it's nevertheless effective as a horror/mystery movie.
7 'Wake in Fright' (1971)
While Wake in Fright isn't a horror movie, it's enough of an intense thriller/psychological drama that it borders on feeling nightmarish for a good chunk of its runtime. The plot follows a teacher who stays in a remote outback town in Australia for what's supposed to be a short time, only for circumstances to keep him there and push him to the brink physically, mentally, and emotionally.
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"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."Donald Pleasence is a considerable factor in making Wake in Fright feel like such a compelling exploration of madness, with his character’s bizarre behavior and strange outlook on life making the film's protagonist increasingly uneasy. Pleasence is at his most offbeat here, and his performance is mesmerizing, with Wake in Fright as a whole also being a unique and memorably intense film overall.
6 'Cul-de-sac' (1966)
If Cul-de-sac can be called a comedy, then it's certainly a dark one. It also works as a psychological thriller and something of a crime movie, having a narrative that revolves around two criminals who hide out at a mansion, and what happens when they begin interacting with the reclusive man and his young wife who both live there.
Perhaps like Wake in Fright, it shows people in isolation gradually finding themselves becoming less in control psychologically. Donald Pleasence gets to shine as the owner of the mansion, with Cul-de-sac staying relatively engaging for its almost two-hour-long runtime thanks to the way it continues to explore - and throw into chaos - the strange dynamics between the principal characters in the film.
5 'Will Penny' (1967)
Will Penny is a fairly underrated Western movie, especially considering the notable actors that make up its cast. Like in many of his films, Donald Pleasence plays a villainous role here, and he's joined by other stars like Charlton Heston, Bruce Dern, Lee Majors, and a young Jon Gries, who would go on to become well-known for playing Uncle Rico in the 2004 cult classic Napoleon Dynamite.
The plot of Will Penny sees its title character - played by Heston - falling in love with a woman while stuck in a cabin during the winter, and then eventually clashing with a terrifying preacher (played by Pleasence). It unfolds slowly but steadily, working as an old-fashioned Western and arguably being at its most exciting and dynamic whenever Pleasence is on-screen.
4 'Fantastic Voyage' (1966)
There's no shortage of movies out there about people shrinking down dramatically, but few are quite as iconic as Fantastic Voyage. And your movie does have to be good, if you're going to stick an expressive and undeniably positive word like "Fantastic" in the title.
The premise here is simple and quite a bit of fun, as it follows a submarine and its crew getting shrunk down to microscopic size, and then placed inside the bloodstream of a man who's at risk of dying without such experimental intervention. Fantastic Voyage is epic and ambitious, but all technically takes place inside one person's body, featuring engaging and imaginative special effects throughout.
3 'You Only Live Twice' (1967)
Though You Only Live Twice isn't thought of as one of the best Sean Connery James Bond movies, it is still an iconic one, and the character of Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a big reason for that. The character had made brief appearances in From Russia with Love and Thunderball, but only the back of his head was seen and his voice heard. You Only Live Twice gave the character a major role and showed him much more, with Donald Pleasence being the first to play Blofeld in such a capacity.
007 clashes with Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE, on a Japanese island here, and Pleasence's depiction of the recurring antagonist made him instantly memorable. Blofeld's since been played by other great actors like Max von Sydow and Christoph Waltz, but Pleasence's screen presence and villainous charisma have been hard to top (there's a reason this particular villain was parodied in Austin Powers through the character of Dr. Evil).
2 'The Great Escape' (1963)
The Great Escape is one of the best movies of the 1960s, telling a large-scale and consistently exciting story about breaking out of a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. It has an utterly amazing cast, too, with the likes of Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, David McCallum, and of course Donald Pleasence all appearing throughout.
With a runtime of almost three hours, The Great Escape is a movie that finds time to let just about everyone in its gigantic cast shine. This goes for Pleasence too, of course, with the actor playing a less intense and/or villainous character than usual, as he's a prisoner-of-war who's slowly going blind, but bravely insists on taking part in the ambitious escape regardless.
1 'Halloween' (1978)
A landmark horror film that helped show how big budgets weren't necessary to deliver big scares, the first Halloween is an untouchable classic. It introduced the world to Michael Myers and saw him go on his first of many killing sprees, in turn also introducing characters like Pleasence's Dr. Loomis and Jamie Lee Curtis's Laurie Strode.
Donald Pleasence was key to Halloween's success, being the most prolific cast member and adding a certain gravitas to the whole thing (perhaps similar to what Alec Guinness had done for the first Star Wars film a year earlier). As the psychiatrist of Michael Myers, Loomis feels driven to prevent the murder spree Michael goes on, with Pleasence bringing a world-weariness and intensity to the role that makes it arguably his most iconic film performance.