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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” This nugget of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, talking, spectacled member of the oozy monster mob that infests Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s simply an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, oddly enough, it’s also surprisingly sturdy existential counsel. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When situations deteriorate, the most counterproductive action you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Actually, most of the toothy monsters that occupy Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (possibly his finest) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating the mundane and absolute bedlam. 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 strikes the deepest chord.

A Youthful Fixation

Understandably, my connection with this movie did not begin on such an philosophical plane. Growing up, we possessed merely a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and featuring snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films quickly proceeded lodging themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s original commonly garners all the praise, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a partly frightening holiday classic – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. That said, its follow-up infrequently obtains the same level of high regard, 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 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 observed this fixation, they gave no indication of concern.

Deeper Delights and Pop-Culture References

As I got older, new insights rewarded multiple watches, amplifying the pleasure of watching little green monsters joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his second wife Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was inspired by a genuine “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world really ended. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film different iterations of a self-referential segment where Gremlins hijack the very film you’re watching. An edit for movie houses, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Persistent Appeal

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this hidden treasure maintained my fascination as an adult. In time, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation telling me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This cartoonish insubordination and resolve to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I endured a abrupt familial death recently, I was surprised to find that, during my deepest grief, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Perhaps not. The nostalgic calm it furnished was essential to dilute my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had given me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

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 knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: welcome the pandemonium, put everything you’ve got into canned food and shotguns and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

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