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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” That bit of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, talking, spectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that infests Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s nothing more than an financial suggestion from one monster to another. But, oddly enough, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Truly, hear me out.

When situations deteriorate, the worst thing you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. In fact, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that inhabit Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (debateably his greatest) possess the same knowing, self-referential comic sensibility regarding the hazy boundary separating daily routine and pure pandemonium. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and with the passage of time, it’s the message that resonates the most.

An Early Life Fixation

Understandably, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an philosophical plane. Growing up, we possessed merely a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box probably bought from an off-brand video shop and sporting grimacing beasts on its worn-out artwork. I was right away smitten and these films wasted no time embedding themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. From then on, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s first film commonly garners all the plaudits, thanks largely to its legacy as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its successor infrequently obtains the same level of elevated esteem, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d lock myself inside and stick it on. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it ingrained itself in my mental framework. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Subtler Delights and Pop-Culture Nuggets

As I grew, new insights enriched frequent screenings, amplifying the pleasure of watching small emerald creatures happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by future president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his former spouse Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp has more heart than his real-life counterpart.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world really ended. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film varying versions 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 providing a grinning portion of meta pop-culture magic ahead of its time.

An Enduring Legacy

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this subsurface richness kept me hooked as an adult. In time, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation informing me he made the movie with the direct intention of mocking 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 gravely as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, 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 felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Perhaps not. The comforting familiarity it furnished was necessary to thin out my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had bestowed upon me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just can’t control. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: accept the turmoil, invest all your resources into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.