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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. Our recommendation is 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 genetically modified, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slick creature crowd that overruns Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s merely an financial suggestion from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also surprisingly sturdy existential counsel. Seriously, hear me out.

When things go bad, the most counterproductive action you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Indeed, the majority of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (arguably his best) possess the same wry, meta funny bone regarding the indistinct border separating everyday life and pure pandemonium. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and as I age, it’s the message that strikes the deepest chord.

A Childhood Fascination

Naturally, my fondness for this movie did not begin on such an introspective level. As a child, we possessed merely a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box almost certainly acquired from an independent video outlet and featuring snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films wasted no time inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. After that point, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s original commonly garners all the accolades, thanks primarily due to its legacy as a partly frightening holiday classic – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. However, its sequel seldom receives the same level of elevated esteem, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d retreat into the house and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Gradually, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents observed this fixation, they appeared unbothered.

Hidden Delights and Pop-Culture References

As I grew, new insights enriched multiple watches, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his second wife Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp has more heart than his genuine article inspiration.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was based on a genuine “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world really ended. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film different iterations of a self-referential segment where Gremlins seize control of the exact movie you are viewing. A version for theaters, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Lasting Legacy

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque 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 qualms revealing to me he made the movie with the express purpose of poking fun at those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This anarchic defiance 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 unexpected loss in the family not long ago, I was taken aback to discover 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 provided was needed to thin out my mind’s sadness sludge – but the stuff it had imparted to me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just are powerless over. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to be like them: welcome the pandemonium, invest all your resources into canned food and shotguns and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s strong life advice from a most improbable origin – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.