We lead off this week with an offering from Lafawnduh, otherwise known as Dan Ross. The video is The Orchard, and it won first prize in the Warcraft Movies Shrieking Shorties Contest. Lafawnduh was previously featured on Moviewatch for the Ultimate Snowdown back in December 2007.

This time, Lafawnduh's looking at the strange story of Old Margaret, whose mysterious apple pies have won the Brewfest's Southshore Apple Pie contest for years. A frustrated farmer is at his wit's end and tired of losing to Old Margaret. He chooses to sneak into her barn one night to discover the secret.

The Orchard is categorized as "Horror," but you don't need to be told that. Within a few second of the video, the mood, music, and first-person perspective tells you what kind of story you're about to witness. The perspective carries the horror theme very well, with a disjointed sense of what the character's witnessing.

The story itself has a great ending. The morality of Margaret isn't called into question, except by what you might draw on from horror tropes. In fact, the cruel coincidence of what the narrator happens across probably makes for the most horrific part of the story. If he hadn't chosen this night, if he hadn't happened to be around, things might have turned out differently for him. I particularly enjoyed this graying of events, since it makes everything plausible without particularly maligning anyone, or relying on tired cliches of motivation.

[Via Myndflame]

If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.

Previously on Moviewatch ...

What do you get when you cross a human, an elf, and a murloc? The Warcraftmovies Christmas Spirit Contest third place winner, of course! Lafawnduh created Ultimate Snowdown to remind us what Christmas is all about - sticking it to the man. Wait, no. It was about those darn murlocs!

When a human sets off for that perfect holiday tree, he doesn't expect to encounter competition. Not ready to give up his territory, he takes the petty way out and pelts the elf with a snowball. As the elf gathers a posse, the human has no choice but to do the same, erupting into an all out snowball war. When they take their eyes off the prize, well ... you'll see what happens!

[Via Warcraftmovies.com]

Previously on Moviewatch...