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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 piece of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, speaking, spectacled member of the oozy monster mob that overruns Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s nothing more than an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. Yet, oddly enough, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life guidance. Honestly, listen to my reasoning.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. In fact, a large portion of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the indistinct border separating everyday life and absolute bedlam. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the theme that resonates the most.

An Early Life Fascination

Understandably, my attachment to this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. Growing up, we possessed merely a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box probably bought from an independent video outlet and featuring growling monsters on its knackered cover. I was right away smitten and these films did not delay inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. After that point, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s first film typically gets all the plaudits, thanks largely to its legacy as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. That said, its sequel infrequently obtains 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 bright summer vacations, I’d seclude myself indoors and play it. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Over time, it ingrained itself in my mental framework. If my parents noticed this obsession, they didn’t seem to mind.

Subtler Delights and Societal Easter Eggs

As I matured, new understandings enhanced repeat viewings, elevating the fun of watching small emerald creatures happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his second wife Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his actual-world equivalent.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was based on a genuine “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film different iterations of a meta sequence where Gremlins take over the exact movie you are viewing. An edit for movie houses, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each providing a grinning portion of meta pop-culture magic prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Lasting Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this deeper gold kept me hooked as an adult. Ultimately, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no qualms informing me he made the movie with the direct intention of ridiculing those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This cartoonish rebelliousness and determination to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only increased my affection for it.

When I endured a unexpected loss in the family recently, I was astonished to realize that, during my heightest mourning, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Possibly not. The nostalgic calm it furnished was essential to dilute my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had given me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: accept the turmoil, invest all your resources into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my feelgood film.