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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” This piece of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, articulate, glasses-wearing member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s nothing more than an investment tip from one monster to another. However, in a strange manner, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life guidance. Seriously, hear me out.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the biggest mistake you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin understands this. In fact, the majority of the fang-bearing creatures that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) possess the same wry, meta funny bone regarding the indistinct border separating daily routine and pure pandemonium. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and with the passage of time, it’s the underlying idea that echoes the loudest.

A Childhood Fascination

Naturally, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. In my youth, we were limited to a few battered VHS tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve almost certainly acquired from an independent video outlet and boasting snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded lodging themselves inside my small, malleable brain. After that point, they became an almost-daily part of my childhood viewing routine.

Dante’s first film commonly garners all the plaudits, thanks primarily due to its status as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. 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 long summer holidays, I’d retreat into the house and stick it on. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Over time, it ingrained itself in my mental framework. If my parents noticed this obsession, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Rewards and Pop-Culture Nuggets

As I got older, new understandings enriched repeat viewings, elevating the fun of watching diminutive verdant beasts gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking 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) alluding to his second wife Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was based on a genuine “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case 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 actual feature in progress. An edit for movie houses, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of self-referential entertainment sorcery before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Influence

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this hidden treasure kept me hooked as an adult. Eventually, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation informing me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This anarchic rebelliousness and determination to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only made me love it even more.

When I experienced a abrupt familial death not long ago, I was astonished to realize that, during my deepest grief, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Possibly not. The soothing reminiscence it provided was needed to thin out my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just are powerless over. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: accept the turmoil, 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 highly unexpected fountain – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.