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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to invest all their resources into canned food and shotguns.” This nugget of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, speaking, bespectacled member of the slick creature crowd that overruns Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s merely an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. Yet, curiously, it’s also remarkably sound existential counsel. Truly, hear me out.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. In fact, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same sly, self-aware sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating everyday life and absolute bedlam. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and as I age, it’s the underlying idea that echoes the loudest.

A Childhood Fixation

Understandably, my attachment to this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we were limited to a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box probably bought from an independent video outlet and sporting growling monsters on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. Henceforth, they became an practically routine part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s first film usually receives all the praise, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. Nevertheless, its sequel seldom receives the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and pop it in. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. Gradually, it ingrained itself in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Subtler Discoveries and Cultural References

As I matured, new revelations enhanced multiple watches, amplifying the pleasure 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 future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his genuine article inspiration.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was modeled after a actual “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world really ended. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film alternate cuts of a meta sequence where Gremlins hijack the exact movie you are viewing. One for cinemas, another for home video and television, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Persistent Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this subsurface richness held my interest as an adult. Eventually, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation revealing to me he made the movie with the express purpose of mocking those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This cartoonish rebelliousness and commitment to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I endured a unexpected loss in the family not long ago, I was astonished to realize that, during my most profound sorrow, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Maybe not. The soothing reminiscence it furnished was essential to dilute my mind’s sadness sludge – but the insights it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just can’t control. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: accept the turmoil, invest all your resources into canned food and shotguns and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my go-to cinematic solace.