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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into preserved goods and firearms.” This piece of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, articulate, bespectacled 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. At first glance, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. Yet, curiously, it’s also pretty solid life guidance. Honestly, hear me out.

When situations deteriorate, the worst thing you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Indeed, a large portion of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (arguably his best) possess the same sly, self-aware comic sensibility regarding the blurry line separating the mundane and unadulterated chaos. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and the older I get, it’s the underlying idea that strikes the deepest chord.

An Early Life Fixation

Understandably, my attachment to this movie didn’t start on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we were limited to a few battered VHS tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve probably bought from an independent video outlet and sporting grimacing beasts on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. Henceforth, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original typically gets all the praise, thanks mostly because of its status as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. However, its successor infrequently obtains the same level of elevated esteem, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d retreat into the house and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it etched itself permanently in my mindset. If my parents noticed this obsession, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Rewards and Cultural Nuggets

As I grew, new revelations enhanced repeat viewings, amplifying the pleasure of watching little green monsters joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his second wife Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp has more heart than his actual-world equivalent.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was based on a actual “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world really ended. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film different iterations of a meta sequence where Gremlins take over the very film you’re watching. An edit for movie houses, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each providing a grinning portion of self-referential entertainment sorcery prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Lasting Influence

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this subsurface richness kept me hooked as an adult. In time, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no reservations telling me he made the movie with the direct intention of ridiculing those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This anarchic defiance and resolve to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I endured a sudden family bereavement earlier this year, I was surprised to find that, during my deepest grief, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Maybe not. The soothing reminiscence it furnished was necessary to dilute my mind’s sadness sludge – but the stuff it had bestowed upon me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just cannot manage. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: embrace the chaos, invest all your resources into preserved goods and firearms and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a most improbable origin – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my feelgood film.