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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. We’re advising all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into preserved goods and firearms.” That bit of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, articulate, bespectacled member of the oozy monster mob that infests Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s nothing more than an financial suggestion from one monster to another. However, oddly enough, it’s also pretty solid existential counsel. Truly, consider my perspective.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the most counterproductive action you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Indeed, most of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating everyday life and absolute bedlam. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and the older I get, it’s the message that resonates the most.

A Youthful Fascination

Of course, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. In my youth, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box almost certainly acquired from an independent video outlet and boasting growling monsters on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. From then on, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s initial installment commonly garners all the praise, thanks largely to its reputation as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. However, its successor infrequently obtains the same level of elevated esteem, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d retreat into the house and stick it on. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. With repetition, it etched itself permanently in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Rewards and Cultural Easter Eggs

As I got older, new insights rewarded frequent screenings, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts 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 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 genuine article inspiration.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was inspired by a genuine “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film varying versions of a self-aware scene where Gremlins take over the very film you’re watching. An edit for movie houses, another for home video and television, each offering a winking bit of self-referential entertainment sorcery before the term was even a thing.

An Enduring Influence

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that caught my eye as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. Eventually, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the direct intention of poking fun at those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This anarchic insubordination and determination to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I went through a sudden family bereavement earlier this year, I was astonished to realize that, during my deepest grief, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Perhaps not. The comforting familiarity it offered was necessary to dilute my mind’s mourning mire – but the insights it had given me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: welcome the pandemonium, invest all your resources into preserved goods and firearms and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s strong life advice from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.