Poor Vincenzo (Simon Oakland): the guy always gets the short end of the stick. He's scheduled to take a (working) vacation on an ocean cruise but is side tracked by the need to to meet with some auditors. So it's Kolchak who gets to benefit from his misfortune. He's supposed to ultimately write an expose of "swinging singles" cruises, but gets caught up in a weird story that is much more his style. An honest-to-God werewolf is loose on the ship!
This episode isn't as scary as other entries, although by the end it does manage to build some suspense. The werewolf makeup is shoddy, but the feral creature proves quite formidable in attack scenes. This episode is worthy for a true change of pace in terms of its setting and for putting a fresh spin on a traditional monster. Allen Baron returns to direct once again, and gives the proceedings a cracking pace and an action packed story. There is one hair raising moment for Kolchak where he's in danger of punching out for good, and at the end he's very much breaking the fourth wall as he dictates the memoirs of the eventful trip. The werewolf in this case is an appropriately tormented individual, played by TV veteran Eric Braeden. One can't help but feel bad for him as he does everything possible to deal with his impending transformations. The episode really succeeds when it comes to the laughs; it gives Kolchak yet another huffy nemesis to contend with, in this case, the officious captain of the ship, played by Henry Jones, and a highly animated female cohort played by Nita Talbot; her character is an old movie buff and it's a delight to see the chemistry that she has with Darren McGavin.
Definitely a fun episode overall. At the least, it's certainly never boring.
Seven out of 10.
This episode isn't as scary as other entries, although by the end it does manage to build some suspense. The werewolf makeup is shoddy, but the feral creature proves quite formidable in attack scenes. This episode is worthy for a true change of pace in terms of its setting and for putting a fresh spin on a traditional monster. Allen Baron returns to direct once again, and gives the proceedings a cracking pace and an action packed story. There is one hair raising moment for Kolchak where he's in danger of punching out for good, and at the end he's very much breaking the fourth wall as he dictates the memoirs of the eventful trip. The werewolf in this case is an appropriately tormented individual, played by TV veteran Eric Braeden. One can't help but feel bad for him as he does everything possible to deal with his impending transformations. The episode really succeeds when it comes to the laughs; it gives Kolchak yet another huffy nemesis to contend with, in this case, the officious captain of the ship, played by Henry Jones, and a highly animated female cohort played by Nita Talbot; her character is an old movie buff and it's a delight to see the chemistry that she has with Darren McGavin.
Definitely a fun episode overall. At the least, it's certainly never boring.
Seven out of 10.