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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” That bit of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, articulate, bespectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that infests Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s merely an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life guidance. Honestly, listen to my reasoning.

When situations deteriorate, the biggest mistake you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin understands this. In fact, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that inhabit Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (possibly his finest) possess the same wry, meta sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating the mundane and absolute bedlam. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and the older I get, it’s the underlying idea that echoes the loudest.

An Early Life Fixation

Understandably, my fondness for this movie didn’t start on such an philosophical plane. As a child, 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 bulky previously-rented case likely purchased from an off-brand video shop and boasting snarling creatures on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded lodging themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. From then on, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original commonly garners all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. However, its follow-up seldom receives the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d retreat into the house and pop it in. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it etched itself permanently in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Hidden Rewards and Pop-Culture Nuggets

As I grew, new revelations enriched repeat viewings, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his genuine article inspiration.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world really ended. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film varying versions of a self-aware scene where Gremlins hijack the actual feature in progress. 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.

A Persistent Appeal

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that caught my eye as a child, this hidden treasure maintained my fascination as an adult. Eventually, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation telling me he made the movie with the direct intention of ridiculing those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This anarchic defiance and commitment to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only increased my affection for it.

When I endured a sudden family bereavement recently, I was astonished to realize that, during my deepest grief, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Maybe not. The soothing reminiscence it offered was necessary to dilute my mind’s grief morass – but the perspectives it had bestowed upon me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to be like them: welcome the pandemonium, put everything you’ve got into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my feelgood film.