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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to invest all their resources into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” That bit of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, speaking, bespectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s simply an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, in a strange manner, it’s also pretty solid life advice. Honestly, listen to my reasoning.

When situations deteriorate, the most counterproductive action you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Actually, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same sly, self-aware funny bone regarding the indistinct border separating daily routine and absolute bedlam. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and with the passage of time, it’s the theme that resonates the most.

A Youthful Obsession

Understandably, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we were limited to a few battered VHS tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case probably bought from an independent video outlet and sporting grimacing beasts on its tattered front. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my small, malleable brain. From then on, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s initial installment typically gets all the accolades, thanks largely to its legacy as a partly frightening holiday classic – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its follow-up infrequently obtains the same level of elevated esteem, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d retreat into the house and pop it in. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Gradually, it became deeply rooted in my mindset. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they appeared unbothered.

Deeper Delights and Cultural Easter Eggs

As I matured, new insights rewarded multiple watches, elevating the fun of watching little green monsters happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his genuine article inspiration.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “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 self-aware scene where Gremlins hijack the exact movie you are viewing. A version for theaters, another for home video and television, each delivering a smirking slice of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Appeal

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this subsurface richness maintained my fascination 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 direct intention of ridiculing those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This anarchic rebelliousness and resolve to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I went through a abrupt familial death 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. Weird, right? Maybe not. The soothing reminiscence it provided was needed to thin out my mind’s mourning mire – but the insights it had given me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: 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 highly unexpected fountain – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my comfort movie.