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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” This piece of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, speaking, spectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s nothing more than an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. Yet, curiously, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life advice. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the biggest mistake you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Indeed, most of the fang-bearing creatures that populate Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (debateably his greatest) possess the same wry, meta sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating daily routine and unadulterated chaos. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and with the passage of time, it’s the underlying idea that strikes the deepest chord.

A Youthful Fascination

Understandably, my connection with this movie did not begin on such an philosophical plane. Growing up, we were limited to a few battered VHS tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and featuring snarling creatures on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. After that point, they became an practically routine part of my childhood viewing routine.

Dante’s original usually receives all the accolades, thanks mostly because of 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 follow-up seldom receives 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 pop it in. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Over time, it ingrained itself in my mental framework. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Subtler Delights and Cultural References

As I got older, new understandings rewarded repeat viewings, elevating the fun of watching small emerald creatures gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his former spouse Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was based on a genuine “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film different iterations of a self-referential segment where Gremlins seize control of the exact movie you are viewing. An edit for movie houses, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each delivering a smirking slice of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Appeal

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that caught my eye 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 direct intention of ridiculing those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This anarchic insubordination and resolve to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I endured a abrupt familial death 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. Strange, isn’t it? Perhaps not. The soothing reminiscence it furnished was necessary to dilute my mind’s mourning mire – but the perspectives it had given me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just are powerless over. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to be like them: welcome the pandemonium, put everything you’ve got into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my comfort movie.