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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. We’re advising all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into canned food and shotguns.” That bit of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, bespectacled member of the slick creature crowd that swarms Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. Yet, oddly enough, it’s also pretty solid existential counsel. Seriously, hear me out.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the biggest mistake you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Indeed, a large portion of the fang-bearing creatures that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same wry, meta comic sensibility regarding the hazy boundary separating daily routine and absolute bedlam. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and the older I get, it’s the message that strikes the deepest chord.

A Youthful Obsession

Of course, my attachment to this movie wasn’t born on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we only had a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve almost certainly acquired from an independent video outlet and boasting grimacing beasts on its knackered cover. I was right away smitten and these films quickly proceeded inserting themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. Henceforth, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original typically gets all the accolades, thanks primarily due to its status as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. That said, its follow-up seldom receives the same level of high regard, 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 play it. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. With repetition, it ingrained itself in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Deeper Delights and Cultural Easter Eggs

As I matured, new insights rewarded multiple watches, elevating the fun of watching diminutive verdant beasts gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused development mogul 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 former spouse Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his actual-world equivalent.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was modeled after a actual “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world really ended. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film varying versions of a self-aware scene where Gremlins take over the very film you’re watching. A version for theaters, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each providing a grinning portion of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that captured my attention as a child, this hidden treasure kept me hooked as an adult. In time, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation revealing to me he made the movie with the express purpose 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 happily revealed. This Looney Tunes-esque insubordination and commitment to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only increased my affection for it.

When I experienced a abrupt familial death earlier this year, I was surprised to find that, during my deepest grief, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Maybe not. The soothing reminiscence it offered was needed to dilute my mind’s grief morass – but the insights it had given me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just cannot manage. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to be like them: accept the turmoil, commit your entire being into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

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