Ivan Rassimov
Star of Cannibal Movies
Hunks category pick for the week of 8/25/08
Even though you’re likely never to have heard of him, you can definitely count Italian genre icon Ivan Rassimov among the most handsome serial screen villains ever.
He was dealt a tough hand early in his career when he had to decline a role in Fellini’s Juliet of the Spirits for a role that was almost entirely cut from John Huston’s The Bible: In the Beginning. From then on, it was all Mario Bava vampire flicks, giallo horror films, spaghetti westerns and a lot of work in the uniquely disgusting cannibal sub-genre with films like Eaten Alive and Man From the Deep River. Apparently he was not destined for a life of art cinema and his career lead him to the polar opposite; a job that I would assume is a lot more fun.
As with Edwige Fenech, it was Matthew's giallo trailers introduced me to Ivan's incredible looks–think Clint Eastwood mixed with Udo Kier but dressed like a swinging Italian Yves Saint Laurent.
I finally caught him in action as weird ex-boyfriend Jean in the The Strange Vices of Mrs. Wardh. His screen presence is fiery and striking and it’s a shame that his name isn't more well known. For such a prolific career in such a cult world, I kind of thought there would be more information available, or at least some fan boys wild about this rugged, steely eyed heart throb. But alas, most of the information I could find is gathered from his obituary (he died in 2003).
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