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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” This nugget of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, speaking, bespectacled member of the slick creature crowd that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. However, oddly enough, it’s also pretty solid existential counsel. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When situations deteriorate, the biggest mistake you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Indeed, the majority of the dentally-gifted beasts that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential funny bone regarding the indistinct border separating everyday life and pure pandemonium. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and the older I get, it’s the underlying idea that resonates the most.

A Childhood Fixation

Understandably, my fondness for this movie didn’t start on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we were limited to a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve likely purchased from an independent video outlet and featuring growling monsters on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films wasted no time embedding themselves inside my small, malleable brain. From then on, they became an practically routine part of my childhood viewing routine.

Dante’s first film commonly garners all the plaudits, thanks largely to its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its successor rarely gets the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d retreat into the house and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. Over time, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents observed this fixation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Rewards and Societal References

As I got older, new insights enriched frequent screenings, amplifying the pleasure of watching small emerald creatures joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world really ended. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film alternate cuts of a self-aware scene where Gremlins take over the actual feature in progress. One for cinemas, another for home video and television, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic prior to the concept being mainstream.

An Enduring Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this deeper gold kept me hooked as an adult. In time, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no reservations revealing to me he made the movie with the direct intention of mocking those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This Looney Tunes-esque rebelliousness and resolve to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I experienced a abrupt familial death earlier this year, I was astonished to realize that, during my heightest mourning, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Perhaps not. The comforting familiarity it offered was essential to thin out my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had imparted to me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just can’t control. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: welcome the pandemonium, put everything you’ve got into preserved goods and firearms and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s strong life advice from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my comfort movie.