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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” This nugget of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, bespectacled member of the oozy monster mob that infests Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s merely an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, in a strange manner, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life advice. Honestly, listen to my reasoning.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin understands this. In fact, most of the fang-bearing creatures that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (possibly his finest) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating daily routine and pure pandemonium. 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.

A Childhood Fixation

Naturally, my connection with this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve probably bought from an off-brand video shop and sporting grimacing beasts on its worn-out artwork. I was immediately enamoured and these films wasted no time inserting themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. From then on, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s first film typically gets all the accolades, thanks primarily due to its status as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its successor seldom receives the same level of high regard, which feels unjust. 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 play it. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. With repetition, it etched itself permanently in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Deeper Discoveries and Societal Nuggets

As I got older, new revelations enhanced multiple watches, elevating the fun of watching diminutive verdant beasts gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his actual-world equivalent.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was modeled after a genuine “Doomsday” video created 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 seize control of the exact movie you are viewing. One for cinemas, one for VHS and TV, each providing a grinning portion of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy before the term was even a thing.

An Enduring Appeal

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this hidden treasure held my interest as an adult. Ultimately, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no reservations telling me he made the movie with the express purpose of ridiculing 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 anarchic rebelliousness and determination to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, 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 desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Maybe not. The comforting familiarity it offered was needed to weaken my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had given me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just cannot manage. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: accept the turmoil, put everything you’ve got into preserved goods and firearms and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my go-to cinematic solace.