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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. We’re advising all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into canned food and shotguns.” This piece of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. Yet, oddly enough, it’s also remarkably sound existential counsel. Seriously, hear me out.

When things go bad, the worst thing you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Actually, the majority of the dentally-gifted beasts that occupy Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the indistinct border separating the mundane and pure pandemonium. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and as I age, it’s the theme that strikes the deepest chord.

A Youthful Fascination

Understandably, my connection with this movie didn’t start 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 sequel, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case likely purchased from an off-brand video shop and featuring snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films quickly proceeded embedding themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. Henceforth, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original typically gets all the praise, 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 sequel infrequently obtains the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. With repetition, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Hidden Rewards and Societal References

As I grew, new revelations enhanced repeat viewings, heightening the enjoyment of watching little green monsters gleefully trash 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 red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Fortunately, 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 produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film varying versions of a meta sequence where Gremlins hijack the actual feature in progress. One for cinemas, another for home video and television, each providing a grinning portion of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy before the term was even a thing.

An Enduring Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that caught my eye as a child, this deeper gold maintained my fascination as an adult. In time, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation telling me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This Looney Tunes-esque defiance and commitment to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I endured a abrupt familial death recently, I was astonished to realize that, during my heightest mourning, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Perhaps not. The nostalgic calm it provided was necessary to thin out my mind’s mourning mire – but the insights it had given me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: welcome the pandemonium, invest all your resources into preserved goods and firearms and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a most improbable origin – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.