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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. We’re advising all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into preserved goods and firearms.” This piece of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, talking, spectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that swarms Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. Yet, oddly enough, it’s also remarkably sound existential counsel. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When things go bad, the biggest mistake you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, the majority of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same sly, self-aware sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating everyday life 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 resonates the most.

A Childhood Obsession

Naturally, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an introspective level. Growing up, we were limited to a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve probably bought from an off-brand video shop and sporting grimacing beasts on its knackered cover. I was right away smitten and these films wasted no time inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original typically gets all the praise, thanks mostly because of its reputation as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. Nevertheless, its follow-up seldom receives the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. Gradually, it etched itself permanently in my mindset. If my parents noticed this obsession, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Discoveries and Societal Nuggets

As I matured, new insights enriched multiple watches, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking 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 former spouse Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his genuine article inspiration.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was modeled after a real-life “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film different iterations of a meta sequence where Gremlins seize control of the actual feature in progress. A version for theaters, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic prior to the concept being mainstream.

An Enduring Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that captured my attention as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. Ultimately, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the direct intention of ridiculing those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This Looney Tunes-esque insubordination and commitment to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I endured a abrupt familial death recently, I was astonished to realize that, during my most profound sorrow, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Maybe not. The nostalgic calm it furnished was needed to thin out my mind’s sadness sludge – but the stuff 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 can’t control. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: welcome the pandemonium, commit your entire being into canned food and shotguns and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s strong life advice from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my comfort movie.