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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” This nugget of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, bespectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s simply an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, oddly enough, it’s also remarkably sound life guidance. Seriously, hear me out.

When situations deteriorate, the most counterproductive action you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Actually, the majority of the fang-bearing creatures that inhabit Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (possibly his finest) possess the same sly, self-aware comic sensibility regarding the hazy boundary separating the mundane and pure pandemonium. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and as I age, it’s the message that echoes the loudest.

A Childhood Obsession

Understandably, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an deeply thoughtful note. Growing up, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case probably bought from an off-brand video shop and boasting snarling creatures on its worn-out artwork. I was instantly captivated and these films wasted no time lodging themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. From then on, they became an almost-daily part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s initial installment commonly garners all the plaudits, thanks primarily due to its reputation as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its successor seldom receives the same level of high regard, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d retreat into the house and play it. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. Over time, it etched itself permanently in my mental framework. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Deeper Rewards and Cultural References

As I matured, new insights rewarded frequent screenings, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film varying versions of a self-referential segment where Gremlins hijack the very film you’re watching. One for cinemas, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each providing a grinning portion of self-referential entertainment sorcery ahead of its time.

A Persistent Appeal

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this hidden treasure held my interest as an adult. In time, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations telling me he made the movie with the specific aim 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 happily revealed. This anarchic insubordination and resolve to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I went through a unexpected loss in the family recently, I was taken aback to discover that, during my deepest grief, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Possibly not. The nostalgic calm it offered was needed to thin out my mind’s sadness sludge – 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 agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to be like them: embrace the chaos, put everything you’ve got into canned food and shotguns and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.