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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to invest all their resources into canned food and shotguns.” That bit of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, speaking, glasses-wearing member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s nothing more than an financial suggestion from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life advice. Truly, hear me out.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Actually, most of the fang-bearing creatures that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) possess the same wry, meta sense of humour regarding the indistinct border separating daily routine and unadulterated chaos. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the message that resonates the most.

A Childhood Fascination

Of course, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an introspective level. Growing up, we possessed merely a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and boasting growling monsters on its tattered front. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. After that point, they became an almost-daily part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original typically gets all the plaudits, thanks largely to its status as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. Nevertheless, its successor seldom receives the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Over time, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents noticed this obsession, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Discoveries and Pop-Culture Nuggets

As I matured, new insights rewarded frequent screenings, elevating the fun of watching little green monsters happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his second wife Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his actual-world equivalent.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was modeled after a genuine “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film alternate cuts of a self-referential segment where Gremlins hijack the exact movie you are viewing. One for cinemas, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic ahead of its time.

A Persistent Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that captured my attention as a child, this deeper gold kept me hooked as an adult. Ultimately, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no qualms telling me he made the movie with the express purpose of poking fun at 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 cheerfully disclosed. This cartoonish rebelliousness and determination 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 endured a abrupt familial death not long ago, I was taken aback to discover that, during my heightest mourning, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Perhaps not. The nostalgic calm it furnished was essential to weaken my mind’s sadness sludge – but the insights it had bestowed upon me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just cannot manage. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: accept the turmoil, commit your entire being into preserved goods and firearms and try not to take things too seriously.

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