A Filipino YouTuber has defended his decision to upload a video that appears to show him in fits of grief over his father's dead body.

Keith Talens, who has more than 814,000 subscribers, posted a video titled 'Surprising Dad on Father's Day (Saddest Day Of My Life) on June 15, which has been viewed almost 4.5 million times at the time of writing.

The vlog begins with Talens and his family travelling in their car, supposedly on their way to surprise his father with a prank where Talens poses as one of his own fans and gives his dad a gift, according to Vice.

When Talens arrives, however, it appears his father has died, at which point the camera continues to roll as the YouTube creator hysterically cries, screams, and shakes his father's body. By the end of the video, the face of Talens' father is clearly visible.

Response to the vlog was mixed, with some fans sympathising with Talens, sending their commiserations via Twitter.

"That video I saw from Keith Talens in YT is really heart-breaking. Surprising your father on Father's Day then ended up surprising you. My condolences to you bro," one fan wrote.

Meanwhile, others raised questions about the video's authenticity, and Talen's motive in publishing it - especially the possibility he may have monetised it.

"There is this vlogger Keith Talens who had just lost his father and I understand how heart-breaking it was (I lost mine too). But is the death of your father really necessary for you to make it a content of your vlog and post it in social media?" one tweet read.

"I think it is completely disrespectful to show your father's body to the camera. If your intention was to showcase your planned surprise, then you should've cut the video by the time you saw your father," another said.

In a follow up video, Talens defended his decision to post the footage, claiming he had no knowledge of his father's death before filming took place.

"I'm not the kind of person who would create a vlog about his father knowing his father's dead," he said in Filipino, according to Vice.

"And to fake all of it? I don't even think I could blog anymore."

A Google translation of text in the video's description adds: "I want my dad to be included in my vlog because last time we talked about vlogging he was still joking to me that [he] wants to be my actor!"

It's not the first time a YouTuber has come under fire for vlogging about death in a way deemed to be in bad taste.

Last year, popular vlogger Logan Paul became the centre of a massive controversy when he uploaded a vlog in which he discovered the body of person who had died by suicide.

Newshub.