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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” That bit of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, articulate, bespectacled member of the slick creature crowd that swarms Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s nothing more than an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. Yet, curiously, it’s also pretty solid life advice. Honestly, consider my perspective.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the biggest mistake you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Actually, a large portion of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (arguably his best) possess the same wry, meta sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating the mundane and unadulterated chaos. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and the older I get, it’s the message that echoes the loudest.

A Youthful Obsession

Naturally, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an philosophical plane. In my youth, we possessed merely a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve likely purchased from an independent video outlet and sporting grimacing beasts on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded embedding themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my childhood viewing routine.

Dante’s first film commonly garners all the accolades, thanks largely to its reputation as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its sequel seldom receives the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and stick it on. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. With repetition, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they appeared unbothered.

Subtler Delights and Societal Nuggets

As I got older, new understandings rewarded multiple watches, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film alternate cuts of a meta sequence where Gremlins hijack the actual feature in progress. One for cinemas, another for home video and television, each delivering a smirking slice of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy before the term was even a thing.

A Persistent Influence

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this hidden treasure maintained my fascination as an adult. In time, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the express purpose of poking fun at those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This anarchic insubordination 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 went through a sudden family bereavement not long ago, I was taken aback to discover that, during my deepest grief, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Maybe not. The comforting familiarity it provided was needed to dilute my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had given me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: embrace the chaos, commit your entire being into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my comfort movie.