Doylestown Native Jody Quigley Scares Us in New Thriller, Impuratus

When it comes to rising to a challenge, Doylestown native Jody Quigley is in a class by himself. Especially, when it comes to starring in his latest chilling horror movie, Impuratus, a riveting psychological thriller that will frequently make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

Impuratus is a spellbinding thriller from Thundersmoke Media and his producer father Guy Quigley, of Fountainville, and writer-director Michael Yurinko. The first public screening is taking place on Sunday, Feb. 26, at The County Theater in Doylestown. Many of the members of the cast and crew will be there to mix and mingle. Don't miss it!

To buy tickets for the Sunday, Feb. 26 public screening please go to: https://www.countytheater.org/films/impuratus
For more ticket information go to 215-345-6789

The teaser for Impuratus has won several dozen film festival awards and the movie has won five awards; including those for Yurinko and Tom Sizemore.

Homicide Detective Clayton Douglas, (Tom Sizemore), is summoned to a remote mental hospital to witness the deathbed confession of a mysterious Civil War soldier, (Jody Quigley). Recently retired from the police force, Detective Douglas, who has basically seen it all during his decades in law enforcement travels through the wooded country road on his way home.

Out in the vast emptiness sits the massive state hospital. He is quickly met by Dr. Heysinger Robert Miano) who tells him about the mysterious man in the basement who oddly enough asked for the detective by name. This disturbed man, Daniel Glassman, a Civil War soldier, wants to confess to something horrible, and he yearns to confess specifically to Detective Douglas.

Deep down in the bowels of the asylum, locked in a room is Daniel – a bloated, half-dead old man covered in scars and bruises. Already in the room is Sister Rose (Airen DeLaMater), who is present for medical aid and spiritual guidance.

As Dr. Heysinger breaks the sealed envelope and reads the strangely typed confession, we are transported back to 1862 and we see firsthand what unbelievable events took place. Not only will it shock everyone involved but it will have them questioning the very fabric of their faith and fighting for their lives.

Why did you want to make the movie after you read the script?

Jody Quigley: I thought it was a good take on a thriller. I watch a lot of horror/thriller movies and they’re all the same slasher kind of thing. That’s been done repeatedly, so I liked the idea that this one was more of a psychological thriller that gets into your head.

I appreciated the fact that it covers different time periods, it takes place during the Civil War, then it bounces forward to when this guy’s basically in his hundreds. So, it was cool seeing the way they were going to do a thriller/horror/timepiece all in one. I think everyone did a good job with that.

How long did it take to put on the
prosthetics?

Generally, it usually took anywhere from two to two and a half hours. I would arrive on set around 6 a.m. So, by the time the cast was showing up for an 8:30 a.m. call time, I was pretty much done getting all the stuff put on. It wasn’t fun. It was quite uncomfortable.

How cold was it?

Oh gosh, well, Pennhurst is all cement, so in there, it was probably 30 to 32 degrees at best. I would say just above freezing. Fortunately, they had little portable heaters they brought in that we could plug into outlets there.

Had you met Tom Sizemore before making this movie?

No, it was my first time. He is a very down-to-earth, super nice guy. Not some Hollywood guy who is full of himself.

We would sit there and we would chat about life, He always came to set knowing his lines and he even gave his own two cents of, “Hey, maybe we’ll try it this way and see how it pans out.” So, he brought his [acting] chops to the table and he delivered. It was great working with him.

What are the pluses of working with your dad, Fountainville resident producer Guy Quigley?

My dad is a great dude. He would show up to the set, and he was just happy to see everyone doing their job, everyone getting along, and everything moving steadily as it should.

He was very easygoing, in regard to how the movie was going. He would throw in his two cents here and there, but he was never one of those people that you hear about that show up to set and it’s all fire and brimstone. He would come a few times here and there to see how they were planning on building something or shooting a scene. But he wasn’t sticking around all day pointing fingers. He’s very good at letting things carry their course and waiting for the end result.

How do you see your character, Daniel Glassman?

Daniel Glassman is a guy that was in the wrong place at the wrong time and had a pretty crap deal of luck dealt his way. I think he tried to deal with it the best he could. But it’s one of those things where it kind of makes any script spring from the page. When you think of anything in regards to the protagonist, usually a protagonist has a boatload of crap just thrown in his face and he has to deal with it.

That’s what makes the movie exciting. You can’t just have everything go your way. Who wants to see that? People like to see a struggle, and his struggle was physical and emotional. He had a lot to deal with; that’s for sure.

Talk about filming in a former insane asylum.

It’s kind of surreal because I used to go with my buddy to the Horror Fest on Halloween. So, we would go and they would take each one of the areas and they would make it a theme, and you’d walk through it and people can jump out, grab you and scare you and stuff like that. And they did it really well, so it was really odd because I know some of the spaces and how the place is set up.

When I showed up there it was really odd just being in the people's dressing room and seeing all the masks. Just being in the space that obviously is so creepy, to begin with, but when there’s literally no one else there except maybe 15 people is super, super creepy.

Do you have any creepy stories to share? Were there any things that you saw? Your co-star Airen DeLaMater told me a couple of crew stories.

Yeah, I know some of the crew might have seen some stuff, but I didn’t see anything disturbing. Because there were certain areas we weren’t allowed to go to, and I don’t think they knew off the bat. Because we were supposed to stay on the main level and they went to the third floor I think the one time.

And one of them had a camera or something and they said they felt that there was a presence of sort, the hair on the back of your neck standing up. But there was a couple of them and they all felt the same thing.

Why do you want everyone to see Impuratus?

It’s drastically different from the masses. A lot of these movies have too much gore and don’t really do enough to get in your head thriller-wise.

With Impuratus I appreciate that it's kind of keeping you guessing what’s going on. You think you know but then you don’t. I like that whole puzzle mystery thing, aspect to it. While it does keep you on the edge of your seat and is creepy, it kind of plays more to the psychological side than it does just slasher slash kind of films.

I think people will get a rise out of that and the fact that it’s actually set in a real-time place, and I’ve never seen a Civil War thriller or psychological thriller before this movie. So, I think Impuratus will stand out among others because it’s unique in that right.

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