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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 scientifically altered, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slimy Gremlin horde that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s merely an financial suggestion from one monster to another. But, curiously, it’s also pretty solid existential counsel. Seriously, hear me out.

When situations deteriorate, the worst thing you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Indeed, the majority of the dentally-gifted beasts that occupy Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (possibly his finest) possess the same knowing, self-referential funny bone 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 message that strikes the deepest chord.

An Early Life Fixation

Understandably, my attachment to this movie wasn’t born on such an philosophical plane. In my youth, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve probably bought from an independent video outlet and featuring snarling creatures on its knackered cover. I was instantly captivated and these films quickly proceeded lodging themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s initial installment commonly garners all the praise, thanks largely to its status as a partly frightening holiday classic – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its sequel infrequently obtains the same level of elevated esteem, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d retreat into the house and pop it in. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Deeper Discoveries and Societal References

As I grew, new revelations enriched frequent screenings, amplifying the pleasure of watching little green monsters joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his second wife Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his genuine article inspiration.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was modeled after 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 took extra pains to film alternate cuts of a meta sequence where Gremlins hijack the exact movie you are viewing. One for cinemas, another for home video and television, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Legacy

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this subsurface richness maintained my fascination as an adult. Eventually, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation revealing to me he made the movie with the specific aim 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 happily revealed. This cartoonish insubordination and resolve to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only increased my affection for it.

When I went through a unexpected loss in the family earlier this year, 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. Weird, right? Maybe not. The nostalgic calm it furnished was necessary to thin out my mind’s sadness sludge – but the perspectives it had imparted to me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just cannot manage. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: welcome the pandemonium, commit your entire being into canned food and shotguns and try not to take things too seriously.

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