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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into preserved goods and firearms.” This nugget of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, articulate, spectacled member of the oozy monster mob that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s nothing more than an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. But, curiously, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Truly, listen to my reasoning.

When things go bad, the biggest mistake you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that populate Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (arguably his best) possess the same sly, self-aware comic sensibility regarding the blurry line separating everyday life 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 echoes the loudest.

A Youthful Obsession

Naturally, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. In my youth, we possessed merely a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box likely purchased from an off-brand video shop and boasting growling monsters on its tattered front. I was instantly captivated and these films wasted no time embedding themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. After that point, they became an almost-daily part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s first film typically gets all the plaudits, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. Nevertheless, its sequel rarely gets the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d seclude myself indoors and pop it in. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. With repetition, it ingrained itself in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Deeper Delights and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs

As I got older, new revelations rewarded multiple watches, heightening the enjoyment of watching little green monsters 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 inspired directly by the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp has more heart than his genuine article inspiration.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film varying versions of a meta sequence where Gremlins take over the actual feature in progress. One for cinemas, another for home video and television, each delivering a smirking slice of self-referential entertainment sorcery before the term was even a thing.

A Persistent Appeal

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that captured my attention as a child, this hidden treasure kept me hooked as an adult. Eventually, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no qualms revealing to me he made the movie with the direct intention 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 happily revealed. This anarchic defiance and determination to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I experienced a abrupt familial death earlier this year, I was astonished to realize that, during my most profound sorrow, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Maybe not. The comforting familiarity it offered was necessary to thin out my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

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: welcome the pandemonium, invest all your resources into preserved goods and firearms and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a most improbable origin – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.