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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to invest all their resources into preserved goods and firearms.” That bit of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, speaking, glasses-wearing member of the oozy monster mob that infests Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s nothing more than an investment tip from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also pretty solid life guidance. Seriously, listen to my reasoning.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the biggest mistake you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Actually, the majority of the toothy monsters that occupy 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 one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and the older I get, it’s the theme that strikes the deepest chord.

An Early Life Fascination

Naturally, my connection with this movie did not begin 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 bulky previously-rented case likely purchased from an independent video outlet and boasting grimacing beasts on its knackered cover. I was instantly captivated and these films wasted no time lodging themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original commonly garners all the praise, thanks largely to its reputation as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. That said, its follow-up infrequently obtains the same level of high regard, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. With repetition, it ingrained itself in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Subtler Delights and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs

As I grew, new understandings enhanced frequent screenings, elevating the fun of watching little green monsters gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his second wife Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his genuine article inspiration.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world really ended. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film alternate cuts of a self-aware scene where Gremlins seize control of the actual feature in progress. A version for theaters, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each offering a winking bit of self-referential entertainment sorcery before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this hidden treasure kept me hooked as an adult. Eventually, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the express purpose of ridiculing those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This anarchic insubordination and determination to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I went through a unexpected loss in the family recently, I was astonished to realize that, during my deepest grief, all I wanted 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 dilute my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just cannot manage. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: embrace the chaos, invest all your resources into canned food and shotguns and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my feelgood film.