What do you do when the one thing that you live for is taken away from you? Find out when Tiny returns for the last time in the final entry in the “Tiny’s Halloween” franchise.

Douglas A. Plomitallo returns with Tiny’s October 31st, a short film that concludes a series about the imposing clown. With humorous but gruesome death scenes played out over 16 minutes, much longer than the previous installments, this short is a perfect amuse-bouche for killer clown enthusiasts.

After a series of Halloween murders over the last several years, the mayor has ruled that Halloween is canceled and that no candy or scares shall be shared. On the night of Halloween, a man with a clown mask, Tiny the clown (as himself), goes trick or treating despite the ban. His first stop is the home of an elderly couple, who initially adhere to the ban, but the wife relents and sends him off with candy. Later, a group of assholes, err, townspeople gather in front of a haunted house to protest that the establishment has remained open through the citywide ban of Halloween. The proprietors – Anthony (Charles F. Rosenay) and Alan (Mike Pirozzi) – face the crowd’s ire in hopes that their haunted house “speakeasy” being protested will attract more customers. When the clown comes to their backdoor asking for candy, the proprietors instead send him away with a machete in hopes that he’ll frighten away the mob, however, when a little clown also comes by they taunt and kick him, and Tiny comes back to teach them a lesson about the spirit of Halloween.

Tiny’s October 31st reminds me of Trick ‘r Treat (2007) by its mini vignettes being connected by a lone masked baddie. Some of the characters, similarly, are without the true Halloween spirit, and for their crime, they must be punished by Tiny. Despite the similar premise, the short has a grindhouse feel, very low budget, but effective in its storytelling and homestyle Halloween horror. The ritualistic music introduced towards the end is a nice touch, amping up the tension and acting as the theme music for an impending kill, like Jaw’s famous killing music, something that was missing from the other installments in the series.

The short stars Tiny the clown as himself, Charles F. Rosenay, Mike Pirozzi, Hilma Falkowski, and Joe Nemcheck, as well as a host of extras playing “the assholes”. Compared to some of the other shorts in this series, the acting was a little less stale, though equally amateur. But amateur is okay sometimes! It fits with the rawness of these shorties, which look like they would fit into an adult version of Are You Afraid of the Dark, or some less comedic but equally salutatory version of an Adam Green hail-to-Halloween short. Though Tiny’s October 31st may not be my favorite out of the series, it is still enjoyable and great return — and farewell — for this Halloween-crazy clown.

Tiny’s October 31st is a great short; it is very homemade-looking but has a good storyline when stacked together with its predecessors. The fifth and final short in the series is an exclamation point to end his story on. With an underlying message of do unto others, displayed by punishment being swift for Halloween jerks while Halloween supporters are spared, Tiny’s October 31st is a stern and bloody warning to get into the spirit instead of in the way of others’ Halloween fun… and also, if Tiny knocks on your door, make sure to give him candy. Watch from start to finish:

1. “Tiny’s Halloween” (2009)
2. “Tiny’s Halloween 2” (2010)
3. “Tiny’s Halloween 3” (2012)
4. “Son of Tiny” (2016)
5. “Tiny’s October 31st” (2019)