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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. We’re advising all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into canned food and shotguns.” That bit of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slick creature crowd that overruns Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s nothing more than an investment tip from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also surprisingly sturdy existential counsel. Seriously, hear me out.

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. Actually, most of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (possibly his finest) possess the same sly, self-aware comic sensibility regarding the blurry line separating everyday life and pure pandemonium. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and as I age, it’s the theme that strikes the deepest chord.

A Youthful Obsession

Understandably, my attachment to this movie didn’t start on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we possessed merely 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 almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and boasting snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. After that point, they became an near-everyday part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s original typically gets all the accolades, thanks largely to its reputation as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. That said, its follow-up rarely gets the same level of elevated esteem, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. Gradually, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they appeared unbothered.

Subtler Delights and Cultural Nuggets

As I matured, new insights enriched multiple watches, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon future president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his genuine article inspiration.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film varying versions of a meta sequence where Gremlins take over the actual feature in progress. A version for theaters, one for VHS and TV, each providing a grinning portion of self-referential entertainment sorcery before the term was even a thing.

An Enduring Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that captured my attention as a child, this subsurface richness held my interest as an adult. In time, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations revealing to me he made the movie with the direct intention of ridiculing those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine 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 rebelliousness and determination to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I endured a unexpected loss in the family recently, I was taken aback to discover that, during my deepest grief, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Possibly not. The nostalgic calm it offered was necessary to thin out my mind’s sadness sludge – but the insights it had bestowed upon me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. 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 powerful existential guidance from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my feelgood film.