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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to invest all their resources into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” That bit of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, talking, spectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s merely an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, curiously, it’s also remarkably sound life guidance. Truly, consider my perspective.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. In fact, most of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same sly, self-aware comic sensibility regarding the blurry line separating the mundane and unadulterated chaos. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and the older I get, it’s the underlying idea that strikes the deepest chord.

A Childhood Fixation

Naturally, my attachment to this movie didn’t start on such an philosophical plane. Growing up, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and sporting grimacing beasts on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films did not delay inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. After that point, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original commonly garners all the praise, thanks largely to its status as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. Nevertheless, its follow-up seldom receives the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d retreat into the house and stick it on. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it ingrained itself in my psyche. If my parents observed this fixation, they appeared unbothered.

Subtler Discoveries and Cultural References

As I got older, new understandings enriched frequent screenings, elevating the fun of watching diminutive verdant beasts happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his one-time partner Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his genuine article inspiration.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was modeled after a real-life “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film alternate cuts of a self-aware scene where Gremlins hijack the very film you’re watching. An edit for movie houses, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each delivering a smirking slice of self-referential entertainment sorcery before the term was even a thing.

A Persistent Appeal

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that caught my eye as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. Ultimately, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no qualms telling me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing 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 Looney Tunes-esque insubordination and commitment to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only increased my affection for it.

When I went through a unexpected loss in the family earlier this year, I was taken aback to discover that, during my most profound sorrow, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Possibly not. The soothing reminiscence it provided was essential to thin out my mind’s mourning mire – but the stuff it had given me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to be like them: embrace the chaos, put everything you’ve got into preserved goods and firearms and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my feelgood film.