My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes

The title is misleading at best. There's a brief mention that he had some porno tapes. Not what, which or how many. Just a mention. A more accurate title would just be "My dead dad that I didn't like." That's what this short film is about.

At 13 minutes and 37 seconds, this film is still way too long. It goes a long way (almost 14 minutes) to simply say the director didn't have a high opinion of his dad. It doesn't say much more than that.

There's short snippets of home movies & old camera snapshots. Often they look like they were just stolen from somewhere and not his own. Additionally are miscellaneous unrelated pics that look like they were cut out of a magazine. Narration explains the actual story interjected with brief recordings from members of the family that sound like they were recorded on a 1970's portable tape recorder. Annoying sound, not creative. Sorry.

This film just doesn't go anywhere. It could have been 2 minutes and told the same story. Most of the rest was uninteresting.

When you see the title, "My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes", you might think this short documentary is about... well, someone's deceased father's pornography tapes. However, that's hardly what this film is about. It *is* about a deceased father, though. Specifically the director's deceased father. I kinda wonder why the title was chosen. To get people's attention? If that's the case, I think it will certainly get people's attention.

The film is narrated by David Wain, who wrote and directed "Role Models" and "Wet Hot American Summer". His narration is pretty calm and nice to listen to. We're shown old home movies, photographs, and animation. We also sometimes hear family members talking with subtitles. I don't think there had to be subtitles, but since we only hear them talking, maybe the subtitles are there to just give us something to read/look at while they talk.

"My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes" is definitely a well-made film. Even though the home movie footage doesn't look good, that's OK with me. You may be able to relate if you have old home movies that look similar. The film is interesting and seems to be very personal. We do kinda get to know the director's father, but he seems somewhat mysterious. At least he (apparently) wasn't abusive. I like how the film ends and I like the title, even though it is sorta misleading. Maybe I don't get it? Anyway, the director, Charlie Tyrell, made another good short documentary called "I Thought I Told You to Shut Up!!" (Yes, that's what it's called.) I think both these films are worth watching, although "My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes" is probably really personal for the director and I don't know how much the other film is.

Can't wait for the sequel created by his son. "My Father's Filthy Browser History".