10 Bizarre Horror Movie Choices (& Why They Happened)
5. Dennis' Karate - Cabin Fever
Without question, the strangest scene in Eli Roth's cult classic Cabin Fever occurs in the third act, when we meet Dennis (Matthew Helms), the young son of the local general store owner.
A disease-infected Bert (James DeBello) visits the store looking for help, and as the owner heads back inside to call a doctor, Dennis starts shouting "Pancakes!" before excitedly jumping around and performing karate moves on the spot... because reasons.
Dennis then bites Bert on the hand, and Dennis' dad somehow tries to make this all Bert's fault.
While this entire scene reeks of improv, the "pancakes!" part of it unfolds almost exactly as it does in the shooting script, believe it or not. As for the random karate moves? On the movie's DVD commentary, Roth revealed that they were added last-minute after the director saw actor Matthew Helms performing them during a break between camera setups. And like that, because a kid was goofing around while waiting to shoot, a head-scratching yet totally unforgettable horror movie moment was born.