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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.” That bit of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, articulate, spectacled member of the oozy monster mob that overruns Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s merely an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, in a strange manner, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Truly, consider my perspective.

When things go bad, the worst thing you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. In fact, the majority of the fang-bearing creatures that inhabit Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (possibly his finest) possess the same wry, meta comic sensibility regarding the blurry line separating the mundane and pure pandemonium. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and as I age, it’s the message that echoes the loudest.

A Youthful Obsession

Naturally, my attachment to this movie wasn’t born on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box probably bought from an non-chain rental store and featuring growling monsters 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 near-everyday part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s original usually receives all the praise, thanks mostly because of its status as a partly frightening holiday classic – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. That said, its sequel rarely gets the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d seclude myself indoors and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it etched itself permanently in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Subtler Discoveries and Cultural Nuggets

As I matured, new understandings enhanced frequent screenings, elevating the fun of watching small emerald creatures gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his former spouse Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp has more heart than his actual-world equivalent.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was inspired by a actual “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film different iterations of a meta sequence where Gremlins seize control of the actual feature in progress. One for cinemas, one for VHS and TV, each delivering a smirking slice of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy before the term was even a thing.

A Persistent Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this deeper gold maintained my fascination as an adult. Ultimately, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no reservations revealing to me he made the movie with the direct intention of mocking 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 cheerfully disclosed. This cartoonish insubordination and determination to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only increased my affection for it.

When I went through a sudden family bereavement earlier this year, I was astonished to realize that, during my heightest mourning, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Maybe not. The comforting familiarity it furnished was necessary to weaken my mind’s mourning mire – but the insights it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just are powerless over. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: embrace the chaos, put everything you’ve got into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my comfort movie.