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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into preserved goods and firearms.” That bit of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slick creature crowd that swarms Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s simply an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, in a strange manner, it’s also surprisingly sturdy existential counsel. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that occupy Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential funny bone regarding the indistinct border separating everyday life and pure pandemonium. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and with the passage of time, it’s the message that strikes the deepest chord.

An Early Life Fixation

Understandably, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an philosophical plane. As a child, we possessed merely a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box likely purchased from an independent video outlet and featuring snarling creatures on its worn-out artwork. I was immediately enamoured and these films wasted no time inserting themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. After that point, they became an practically routine part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s initial installment usually receives all the praise, thanks primarily due to its legacy as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. That said, its sequel 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 retreat into the house and pop it in. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Over time, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Delights and Societal Nuggets

As I got older, new understandings rewarded multiple watches, heightening the enjoyment of watching small emerald creatures gleefully trash 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 the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner 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 modeled after a actual “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world really ended. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film different iterations of a meta sequence where Gremlins seize control of the exact movie you are viewing. One for cinemas, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each offering a winking bit of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy ahead of its time.

A Lasting Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that caught my eye as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. In time, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no reservations revealing to me he made the movie with the express purpose of poking fun at 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 gleefully confessed. This Looney Tunes-esque rebelliousness and determination to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only made me love it even more.

When I experienced a unexpected loss in the family earlier this year, I was astonished to realize that, during my deepest grief, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Possibly not. The nostalgic calm it offered was necessary to weaken my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had bestowed upon me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just can’t control. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: welcome the pandemonium, commit your entire being into canned food and shotguns and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my comfort movie.