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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” This piece of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, articulate, glasses-wearing member of the oozy monster mob that swarms Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s simply an financial suggestion from one monster to another. However, oddly enough, it’s also pretty solid life advice. Seriously, listen to my reasoning.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Indeed, most of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (arguably his best) possess the same wry, meta sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating daily routine and pure pandemonium. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and with the passage of time, it’s the theme that strikes the deepest chord.

A Youthful Fixation

Of course, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we possessed merely a few battered VHS tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve likely purchased from an off-brand video shop and featuring growling monsters on its tattered front. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded lodging themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original typically gets all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. However, its follow-up rarely gets the same level of elevated esteem, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d retreat into the house and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Gradually, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents observed this fixation, they appeared unbothered.

Hidden Discoveries and Societal References

As I got older, new revelations rewarded frequent screenings, heightening the enjoyment of watching little green monsters joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his actual-world equivalent.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was modeled after a real-life “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world really ended. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film varying versions of a self-aware scene where Gremlins take over the exact movie you are viewing. A version for theaters, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each delivering a smirking slice of meta pop-culture magic prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Persistent Appeal

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that caught my eye as a child, this deeper gold kept me hooked as an adult. Ultimately, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation telling me he made the movie with the direct intention of poking fun at 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 cheerfully disclosed. This Looney Tunes-esque defiance and commitment to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only increased my affection for it.

When I experienced a unexpected loss in the family not long ago, I was astonished to realize that, during my deepest grief, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Perhaps not. The comforting familiarity it provided was essential to dilute my mind’s sadness sludge – but the perspectives it had imparted to me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: welcome the pandemonium, 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 most improbable origin – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my comfort movie.