Steve Railsback

Acting

Steve Railsback

Born 1945-11-16 · Dallas, Texas, USA

Steve Railsback (born November 16, 1945, in Dallas, Texas) is an American theatre, film, and television actor. He is best known for his performances in the films The Stunt Man and Lifeforce, and his portrayal of Charles Manson in the 1976 television mini-series Helter Skelter. Railsback was a student of Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio and in the late 1960s and early 1970s spent 10 years working in theatre in New York City. He once said that he found Strasberg extremely difficult to work with. He made his film debut in The Visitors, directed by Elia Kazan. He portrayed two notorious murderers, appearing as Charles Manson in the 1976 television miniseries Helter Skelter and as Ed Gein in the 2000 film In the Light of the Moon. He also served as executive producer of the latter film. Other notable roles include the part of Cameron in The Stunt Man with Peter O'Toole, the astronaut Tom Carlsen in Tobe Hooper's Lifeforce, Duane Barry in two episodes of The X-Files, and Joseph Welch in the pilot episode of Supernatural. In 2008, he appeared in the science fiction/horror movie film Plaguers.

Acting credits

Lifeforce poster
6.2

A race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, commencing an apocalyptic descent into chaos.

Lifeforce

1985

In the Line of Fire poster
7.0

Veteran Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan is a man haunted by his failure to save President Kennedy while serving protection detail in Dallas. Thirty years later, a man calling himself "Booth" threatens the life of the current President, forcing Horrigan to come back to protection detail to confront the ghosts from his past.

In the Line of Fire

1993

American Pie Presents: The Book of Love poster
5.3

Ten years after the first American Pie movie, three new hapless virgins discover the Bible hidden in the school library at East Great Falls High. Unfortunately for them, the book is ruined, and with incomplete advice, the Bible leads them on a hilarious journey to lose their virginity.

American Pie Presents: The Book of Love

2009

Barb Wire poster
4.1

A sexy nightclub owner, Barb Wire moonlights as a mercenary in Steel Harbor, one of the last free zones in the now fascist United States. When scientist Cora Devonshire wanders into Barb's establishment, she gets roped into a top-secret government plot involving biological weapons. Soon Barb is reunited with her old flame Axel Hood, who is now Cora's husband and a guerrilla fighter, resulting in plenty of tense action.

Barb Wire

1996

The Devil's Rejects poster
6.7

The murderous, backwoods Firefly family take to the road to escape the vengeful Sheriff Wydell, who is not afraid of being as ruthless as his target.

The Devil's Rejects

2005

Armed and Dangerous poster
5.7

After policeman Frank Dooley is framed for theft and loses his job on the force, he joins a security guard agency and teams up with inept former defense lawyer Norman Kane. When the two botch a job guarding a local warehouse, they begin to uncover corruption within the company and their union.

Armed and Dangerous

1986

The Stunt Man poster
6.6

A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.

The Stunt Man

1980

Disturbing Behavior poster
5.8

Steve Clark is a newcomer in the town of Cradle Bay, and he quickly realizes that there's something odd about his high school classmates. The clique known as the "Blue Ribbons" are the eerie embodiment of academic excellence and clean living. But, like the rest of the town, they're a little too perfect. When Steve's rebellious friend Gavin mysteriously joins their ranks, Steve searches for the truth with fellow misfit Rachel.

Disturbing Behavior

1998

Ed Gein poster
5.4

The true story of Edward Gein, the farmer whose horrific crimes inspired Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. This is the first film to Gein's tormented upbringing, his adored but domineering mother, and the 1957 arrest uncovered the most bizarre series of murders America has ever seen

Ed Gein

2000

Turkey Shoot poster
5.4

In the near future, after an unspecified holocaust, survivors are herded into prison camps. There, they are hunted for sport by the leaders of the camp. Paul, one of the newest prisoners, is determined not to go down as quietly as the others.

Turkey Shoot

1982

Me and Will poster
5.4

Two women with a passion for motorcycles meet while going through rehab. When they discover they've both longed to ride Captain America's red, white, and blue chopper from Easy Rider, they escape the rehab clinic and hit the highway in search of their dream bike.

Me and Will

1999

Storytelling poster
6.5

College and high school serve as the backdrop for two stories about dysfunction and personal turmoil.

Storytelling

2001

Scissors poster
5.0

A woman trying to recover from a sexual attack is locked in a posh apartment with a corpse of the very man she's been dreaming would murder her. She tries to hang on to reality when objects around her seem to come to life.

Scissors

1991

Save Me poster
4.5

An accountant beleaguered by personal and professional problems gets involved with a femme fatale and her mysterious psychiatrist.

Save Me

1994

Helter Skelter poster
6.9

The investigation of two horrific mass murders leads to the capture and trial of the psychotic pseudo-hippie Charles Manson and his "family".

Helter Skelter

1976

Angela poster
4.9

A war vet finds out that a former prostitute had his baby. Doubting it's his, he gives it away, so she reports him. Twenty years later, she still wants to find her son. She meets a young man and falls in love, but the vet's prison term ends.

Angela

1977

The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault poster
NR

THE AGFA MYSTERY MIXTAPE VAULT is a 2-disc, 500-minute odyssey that collects eight feature-length VHS mixtapes from the crackpots at AGFA—including two that have only ever been available theatrically.

The AGFA Mystery Mixtape Vault

2020

King of the Lost World poster
4.3

In this modern retelling of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fantasy action-adventure classic, a commercial airliner crashes deep in the heart of the Amazon. Now, the survivors must face a mysterious and hostile world inhabited by giant scorpions, dragons, and a simian beast that stands ten stories tall.

King of the Lost World

2005

Blue Monkey poster
4.9

While working in a greenhouse, a man receives an insect bite after touching an exotic plant. Immediately, he falls ill and is taken to an emergency room where the doctors diagnose him as suffering from an unknown bacteria, and a strange parasite which emerges from his mouth as a large slimy wormlike creature. Soon, there are more cases of bacterial infection, but the more immediate problem for the hospital is the wormlike creature which after accidental exposure to a genetic growth stimulant grows to monstrous proportions and starts a reign of terror and bloodshed in the hospitals abandoned wing.

Blue Monkey

1987

Pressure Point poster
2.6

A CIA assassin is embroiled in a deadly game across two continents. Betrayed and imprisoned, he faces one last mission to regain his freedom, his family and his self respect. Stars Steve Railsback, Larry Linville.

Pressure Point

1997

Calendar Girl poster
5.2

Three young men go on an end of the summer trip to Hollywood, California. Their quest: to fulfill the fantasy of meeting Marilyn Monroe.

Calendar Girl

1993

Not Quite Hollywood poster
6.7

As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.

Not Quite Hollywood

2008

Alligator 2: The Mutation poster
4.9

A giant mutated alligator runs riot in a small town after the sewer system washes it into a lake.

Alligator 2: The Mutation

1991

Sunstroke poster
3.0

After a bitter divorce, Teresa embarks on a noir journey to recover custody of her daughter. Murder, blackmail, and a mysterious stranger await her at a Scottsdale motel.

Sunstroke

1992

Behind the camera