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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” This piece of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, speaking, glasses-wearing member of the oozy monster mob that overruns Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s nothing more than an financial suggestion from one monster to another. But, in a strange manner, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Honestly, consider my perspective.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, a large portion of the dentally-gifted beasts that inhabit Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating the mundane and pure pandemonium. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the underlying idea that echoes the loudest.

A Youthful Fixation

Naturally, my fondness for this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we only had a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and sporting grimacing beasts on its tattered front. I was immediately enamoured and these films wasted no time embedding themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. After that point, they became an almost-daily part of my childhood viewing routine.

Dante’s first film usually receives 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 on countless occasions. However, its successor 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 long summer holidays, I’d lock myself inside and pop it in. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Gradually, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Rewards and Societal Easter Eggs

As I matured, new insights enriched multiple watches, heightening the enjoyment of watching little green monsters gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his former spouse Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was modeled after a real-life “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film alternate cuts of a meta sequence where Gremlins seize control of the actual feature in progress. An edit for movie houses, another for home video and television, each providing a grinning portion of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Influence

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that caught my eye as a child, this hidden treasure kept me hooked as an adult. Eventually, I even conversed with 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 silly-yet-sincere predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This cartoonish insubordination and commitment to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only made me love it even more.

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 nostalgic calm it offered was essential to thin out my mind’s grief morass – but the perspectives it had given me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just can’t control. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: accept the turmoil, put everything you’ve got into preserved goods and firearms and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my comfort movie.