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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into preserved goods and firearms.” This piece of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, spectacled member of the oozy monster mob that infests Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. But, curiously, it’s also pretty solid existential counsel. Seriously, listen to my reasoning.

When things go bad, the most counterproductive action you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. In fact, a large portion of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating daily routine and unadulterated chaos. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and with the passage of time, it’s the underlying idea that resonates the most.

An Early Life Fixation

Understandably, my connection with this movie did not begin on such an philosophical plane. As a child, we possessed merely a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case almost certainly acquired from an non-chain rental store and featuring snarling creatures on its worn-out artwork. I was instantly captivated and these films wasted no time inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s initial installment commonly garners all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its reputation as a partly frightening holiday classic – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. That said, its follow-up infrequently obtains the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d lock myself inside and stick it on. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. With repetition, it etched itself permanently in my psyche. If my parents noticed this obsession, they didn’t seem to mind.

Subtler Delights and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs

As I got older, new revelations enriched frequent screenings, elevating the fun of watching small emerald creatures gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his one-time partner Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his genuine article inspiration.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was modeled after a real-life “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world really ended. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film different iterations of a self-referential segment where Gremlins take over the actual feature in progress. An edit for movie houses, another for home video and television, each delivering a smirking slice of self-referential entertainment sorcery before the term was even a thing.

An Enduring Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that captured my attention as a child, this subsurface richness held my interest as an adult. In time, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no qualms informing me he made the movie with the specific aim of mocking those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This Looney Tunes-esque defiance and commitment to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only made me love it even more.

When I experienced a unexpected loss in the family recently, I was taken aback to discover that, during my heightest mourning, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Maybe not. The comforting familiarity it furnished was necessary to dilute my mind’s sadness sludge – but the insights it had given me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just are powerless over. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to be like them: embrace the chaos, commit your entire being into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

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