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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into canned food and shotguns.” That bit of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, speaking, bespectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s nothing more than an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. Yet, in a strange manner, it’s also pretty solid life guidance. Truly, hear me out.

When situations deteriorate, the biggest mistake you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. In fact, the majority of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the indistinct border separating the mundane and unadulterated chaos. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and the older I get, it’s the message that strikes the deepest chord.

An Early Life Fixation

Of course, my attachment to this movie wasn’t born on such an deeply thoughtful note. In my youth, we possessed merely a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box probably bought from an non-chain rental store and featuring grimacing beasts on its tattered front. I was immediately enamoured and these films wasted no time lodging themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. Henceforth, they became an near-everyday part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s first film usually receives all the praise, thanks primarily due to its reputation as a partly frightening holiday classic – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. Nevertheless, its sequel rarely gets the same level of high regard, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and stick it on. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. Gradually, it ingrained itself in my mental framework. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they appeared unbothered.

Subtler Discoveries and Cultural References

As I got older, new understandings enhanced frequent screenings, amplifying the pleasure of watching small emerald creatures gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his former spouse Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his genuine article inspiration.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film different iterations of a self-referential segment where Gremlins hijack the very film you’re watching. An edit for movie houses, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each delivering a smirking slice of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

An Enduring Appeal

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this hidden treasure maintained my fascination as an adult. In time, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no reservations revealing to me he made the movie with the express purpose of ridiculing those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This anarchic insubordination and resolve to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I endured a sudden family bereavement recently, I was astonished to realize that, during my deepest grief, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Possibly not. The comforting familiarity it furnished was necessary to weaken my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had bestowed upon me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just can’t control. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to be like them: accept the turmoil, commit your entire being into preserved goods and firearms and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my feelgood film.