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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into preserved goods and firearms.” This nugget of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, speaking, spectacled member of the slick creature crowd that overruns Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s simply an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. But, in a strange manner, it’s also surprisingly sturdy existential counsel. Honestly, hear me out.

When things go bad, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Indeed, the majority of the dentally-gifted beasts that populate Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating the mundane and unadulterated chaos. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and with the passage of time, it’s the underlying idea that strikes the deepest chord.

An Early Life Obsession

Of course, my fondness for this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. In my youth, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box likely purchased from an independent video outlet and featuring grimacing beasts on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. After that point, they became an near-everyday part of my childhood viewing routine.

Dante’s original commonly garners all the accolades, thanks primarily due to its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. That said, its successor infrequently obtains the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d seclude myself indoors and pop it in. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. With repetition, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Subtler Delights and Societal Easter Eggs

As I got older, new insights enriched repeat viewings, elevating the fun of watching small emerald creatures 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 inspired directly by the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his actual-world equivalent.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was inspired by a actual “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film different iterations of a meta sequence where Gremlins hijack the very film you’re watching. One for cinemas, another for home video and television, each providing a grinning portion of self-referential entertainment sorcery prior to the concept being mainstream.

An Enduring Legacy

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. Eventually, I even interviewed 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 absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This cartoonish rebelliousness and resolve to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I experienced a abrupt familial death not long ago, I was astonished to realize that, during my most profound sorrow, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Perhaps not. The nostalgic calm it offered was essential to weaken my mind’s mourning mire – but the insights it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins rampaging through 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: welcome the pandemonium, put everything you’ve got into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s strong life advice from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my comfort movie.