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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into canned food and shotguns.” This nugget of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slick creature crowd that infests Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s merely an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. But, oddly enough, it’s also pretty solid life guidance. 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 comprehends this. In fact, a large portion of the fang-bearing creatures that inhabit Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (possibly his finest) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating daily routine and pure pandemonium. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and as I age, it’s the underlying idea that strikes the deepest chord.

A Childhood Fascination

Of course, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we possessed merely a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and featuring growling monsters on its worn-out artwork. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay lodging themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. After that point, they became an near-everyday part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s first film typically gets all the plaudits, thanks largely to its status as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. Nevertheless, its follow-up seldom receives the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d retreat into the house and pop it in. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Over time, it became deeply rooted in my mental framework. If my parents observed this fixation, they gave no indication of concern.

Deeper Discoveries and Societal References

As I matured, new understandings rewarded repeat viewings, elevating the fun of watching diminutive verdant beasts happily vandalize 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 auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his real-life counterpart.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world really ended. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film different iterations of a self-aware scene where Gremlins hijack the exact movie you are viewing. An edit for movie houses, another for home video and television, each delivering a smirking slice of meta pop-culture magic ahead of its time.

A Persistent Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this subsurface richness kept me hooked as an adult. Ultimately, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the express purpose of mocking those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This cartoonish defiance and determination to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I endured a sudden family bereavement earlier this year, I was taken aback to discover that, during my most profound sorrow, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Possibly not. The comforting familiarity it offered was necessary to weaken my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had given me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just cannot manage. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: accept the turmoil, commit your entire being into preserved goods and firearms 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 eternally stand as my feelgood film.