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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into canned food and shotguns.” This piece of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slimy Gremlin horde that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s nothing more than an financial suggestion from one monster to another. But, in a strange manner, it’s also remarkably sound life guidance. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Indeed, a large portion of the fang-bearing creatures that occupy Dante’s wild 1990 film (possibly his finest) possess the same sly, self-aware comic sensibility regarding the hazy boundary separating daily routine and pure pandemonium. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and as I age, it’s the underlying idea that strikes the deepest chord.

An Early Life Fixation

Naturally, my fondness for this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. Growing up, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve almost certainly acquired from an non-chain rental store 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 early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s initial installment usually receives all the plaudits, thanks primarily due to its reputation as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. Nevertheless, its successor rarely gets the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d seclude myself indoors and pop it in. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. With repetition, it ingrained itself in my psyche. If my parents observed this fixation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Subtler Rewards and Societal References

As I matured, new understandings rewarded repeat viewings, amplifying the pleasure of watching little green monsters gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his actual-world equivalent.

The “apocalyptic” 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 should the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film varying versions of a self-aware scene where Gremlins hijack the actual feature in progress. A version for theaters, one for VHS and TV, each providing a grinning portion of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Persistent Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this deeper gold maintained my fascination as an adult. Ultimately, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation informing me he made the movie with the express purpose of mocking those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This cartoonish rebelliousness and determination to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I experienced a unexpected loss in the family recently, 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. Strange, isn’t it? Maybe not. The nostalgic calm it offered was needed to weaken my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had given me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just cannot manage. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: accept the turmoil, put everything you’ve got into canned food and shotguns 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 comfort movie.