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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 preserved goods and firearms.” That bit of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slimy Gremlin horde that swarms 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. Yet, curiously, it’s also remarkably sound existential counsel. Honestly, listen to my reasoning.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. In fact, most of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (possibly his finest) possess the same sly, self-aware funny bone regarding the hazy boundary separating everyday life and absolute bedlam. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the theme that echoes the loudest.

A Childhood Fixation

Naturally, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an deeply thoughtful note. In my youth, we possessed merely a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve probably bought from an independent video outlet and boasting snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was instantly captivated and these films wasted no time inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s initial installment commonly garners all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its follow-up rarely gets the same level of elevated esteem, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d retreat into the house and pop it in. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. With repetition, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents noticed this obsession, they appeared unbothered.

Hidden Delights and Cultural References

As I got older, new insights enhanced multiple watches, elevating the fun of watching small emerald creatures happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time 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) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp has more heart than his genuine article inspiration.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was modeled after a actual “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world really ended. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film alternate cuts of a meta sequence where Gremlins hijack the actual feature in progress. One for cinemas, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Influence

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this hidden treasure kept me hooked as an adult. Ultimately, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation telling me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing those who loved its silly-yet-sincere 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 gravely as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only increased my affection for it.

When I experienced a unexpected loss in the family earlier this year, I was taken aback to discover that, during my most profound sorrow, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Possibly not. The nostalgic calm it offered was necessary to weaken my mind’s mourning mire – but the insights it had bestowed upon me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: embrace the chaos, commit your entire being into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my comfort movie.