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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to invest all their resources into preserved goods and firearms.” This nugget of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, articulate, glasses-wearing member of the slick creature crowd that infests Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s simply an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, curiously, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the biggest mistake you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, most of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (debateably his greatest) possess the same wry, meta sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating everyday life and pure pandemonium. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and as I age, it’s the message that echoes the loudest.

A Childhood Obsession

Naturally, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. As a child, we only had a few battered VHS tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case probably bought from an non-chain rental store and sporting growling monsters on its worn-out artwork. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded embedding themselves inside my small, malleable brain. From then on, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s initial installment usually receives all the praise, thanks largely to its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. However, its sequel rarely gets the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. With repetition, it became deeply rooted in my mindset. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Subtler Rewards and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs

As I matured, new understandings enhanced frequent screenings, heightening the enjoyment of watching little green monsters joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his actual-world equivalent.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world really ended. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film different iterations of a self-aware scene where Gremlins seize control of the very film you’re watching. One for cinemas, 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 makeup maestro Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. In time, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no qualms informing me he made the movie with the specific aim 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 gleefully confessed. This anarchic insubordination and commitment to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only increased my affection for it.

When I endured a sudden family bereavement recently, I was surprised to find that, during my heightest mourning, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Possibly not. The comforting familiarity it offered was necessary to weaken my mind’s sadness sludge – but the perspectives it had bestowed upon me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: accept the turmoil, 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 most improbable origin – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my feelgood film.