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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. We’re advising all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into preserved goods and firearms.” This nugget of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, articulate, bespectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that infests Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s simply an financial suggestion from one monster to another. But, oddly enough, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Honestly, hear me out.

When situations deteriorate, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that inhabit Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) possess the same sly, self-aware sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating daily routine and pure pandemonium. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the underlying idea that echoes the loudest.

A Youthful Fixation

Understandably, my fondness for this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. Growing up, we possessed merely a few battered VHS tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve likely purchased from an off-brand video shop and featuring grimacing beasts on its tattered front. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay lodging themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s initial installment typically gets all the plaudits, thanks largely to its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its follow-up infrequently obtains the same level of high regard, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d seclude myself indoors and stick it on. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Gradually, it etched itself permanently in my mental framework. If my parents observed this fixation, they gave no indication of concern.

Subtler Discoveries and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs

As I grew, new insights enriched frequent screenings, amplifying the pleasure of watching little green monsters happily vandalize 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 future president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his second wife Marla Maples. Fortunately, 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 based on a genuine “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world really ended. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film alternate cuts of a meta sequence where Gremlins seize control of the very film you’re watching. One for cinemas, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Lasting Influence

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that captured my attention as a child, this deeper gold kept me hooked as an adult. In time, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This Looney Tunes-esque insubordination and resolve to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only increased my affection for it.

When I went through a abrupt familial death recently, I was surprised to find that, during my heightest mourning, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Maybe not. The soothing reminiscence it furnished was needed to thin out my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had given me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just cannot manage. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: welcome the pandemonium, put everything you’ve got into preserved goods and firearms and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my comfort movie.