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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. We’re advising all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into preserved goods and firearms.” This piece of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, spectacled member of the oozy monster mob that swarms Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When things go bad, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Indeed, most of the fang-bearing creatures that occupy Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (debateably his greatest) possess the same wry, meta sense of humour regarding the hazy boundary separating the mundane and unadulterated chaos. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and as I age, it’s the message that strikes the deepest chord.

A Childhood Fascination

Of course, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an philosophical plane. In my youth, we only had a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case likely purchased from an non-chain rental store and featuring grimacing beasts on its tattered front. I was instantly captivated and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. After that point, they became an near-everyday part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s initial installment usually receives all the plaudits, thanks largely to its reputation as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. That said, its successor rarely gets the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity 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 continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it became deeply rooted in my mental framework. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they appeared unbothered.

Subtler Discoveries and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs

As I grew, new understandings enhanced multiple watches, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his one-time partner Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his real-life counterpart.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a actual “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film alternate cuts of a self-aware scene where Gremlins hijack the exact movie you are viewing. A version for theaters, another for home video and television, each providing a grinning portion of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

A Persistent Legacy

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that captured my attention as a child, this subsurface richness maintained my fascination as an adult. Ultimately, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no qualms revealing to me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This Looney Tunes-esque defiance and commitment to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I experienced a unexpected loss in the family 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 soothing reminiscence it furnished was necessary to thin out my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just can’t control. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to be like them: accept the turmoil, invest all your resources into preserved goods and firearms and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a most improbable origin – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my comfort movie.