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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into preserved goods and firearms.” This piece of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, talking, bespectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s nothing more than an financial suggestion from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also pretty solid life guidance. Seriously, hear me out.

When things go bad, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Indeed, a large portion of the toothy monsters that occupy Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (possibly his finest) possess the same sly, self-aware funny bone regarding the blurry line separating everyday life and absolute bedlam. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and the older I get, it’s the underlying idea that strikes the deepest chord.

A Youthful Fascination

Understandably, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. As a child, we were limited to a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box likely purchased from an off-brand video shop and featuring snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. After that point, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original commonly garners all the plaudits, thanks primarily due to its reputation as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. Nevertheless, its follow-up infrequently obtains the same level of high regard, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d retreat into the house and play it. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. With repetition, it etched itself permanently in my mindset. If my parents observed this fixation, they gave no indication of concern.

Deeper Rewards and Cultural References

As I got older, new understandings enriched repeat viewings, amplifying the pleasure of watching diminutive verdant beasts happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film varying versions of a self-aware scene where Gremlins take over the exact movie you are viewing. One for cinemas, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each delivering a smirking slice of self-referential entertainment sorcery ahead of its time.

A Persistent Influence

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this deeper gold kept me hooked as an adult. Eventually, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation informing me he made the movie with the specific aim of poking fun at those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This Looney Tunes-esque defiance and commitment to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I experienced a unexpected loss in the family 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? Maybe not. The soothing reminiscence it furnished was needed to thin out my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had imparted to me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just can’t control. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to be like them: 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 eternally stand as my go-to cinematic solace.