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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.” This piece of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, speaking, spectacled member of the slick creature crowd that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. But, oddly enough, it’s also remarkably sound existential counsel. Seriously, hear me out.

When situations deteriorate, the worst thing you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, most of the fang-bearing creatures that occupy Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (possibly his finest) possess the same sly, self-aware sense of humour regarding the indistinct border separating daily routine and unadulterated chaos. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the underlying idea that resonates the most.

A Childhood Obsession

Of course, my attachment to this movie didn’t start on such an deeply thoughtful note. In my youth, 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 thick former-rental sleeve almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and sporting snarling creatures on its worn-out artwork. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. From then on, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original usually receives all the plaudits, thanks primarily due to its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. That said, its successor infrequently obtains the same level of high regard, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, 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. Over time, it became deeply rooted in my mindset. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they appeared unbothered.

Subtler Delights and Societal Easter Eggs

As I got older, new insights rewarded multiple watches, amplifying the pleasure of watching diminutive verdant beasts gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking development mogul 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 former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his actual-world equivalent.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was inspired by a genuine “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film varying versions of a self-referential segment where Gremlins seize control of the actual feature in progress. One for cinemas, one for VHS and TV, each delivering a smirking slice of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy before the term was even a thing.

A Persistent Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this deeper gold kept me hooked as an adult. In time, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the express purpose 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 happily revealed. This Looney Tunes-esque rebelliousness and commitment to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only made me love it even more.

When I went through a unexpected loss in the family earlier this year, I was surprised to find 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 nostalgic calm it furnished was needed to weaken my mind’s sadness sludge – but the insights it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just cannot manage. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: embrace the chaos, invest all your resources into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my go-to cinematic solace.