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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” This nugget of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, bespectacled member of the oozy monster mob that overruns Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. But, oddly enough, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Honestly, 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 understands this. Indeed, most of the fang-bearing creatures that populate Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (possibly his finest) possess the same wry, meta funny bone regarding the hazy boundary separating the mundane and unadulterated chaos. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the underlying idea that echoes the loudest.

A Youthful Fascination

Naturally, my attachment to this movie did not begin on such an philosophical plane. In my youth, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case almost certainly acquired from an non-chain rental store and boasting growling monsters on its tattered front. I was instantly captivated and these films did not delay inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. From then on, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s original typically gets all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its status as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. Nevertheless, its follow-up seldom receives the same level of elevated esteem, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. Gradually, it became deeply rooted in my mental framework. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Subtler Rewards and Cultural References

As I matured, new understandings enriched repeat viewings, amplifying the pleasure of watching little green monsters happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his second wife Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp has more heart than his real-life counterpart.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was based on a actual “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film varying versions of a meta sequence where Gremlins take over the very film you’re watching. One for cinemas, another for home video and television, each providing a grinning portion of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Influence

While it was effects expert 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 conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation revealing to me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing 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 gleefully confessed. This Looney Tunes-esque defiance and determination to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only increased my affection for it.

When I went through a sudden family bereavement earlier this year, I was taken aback to discover that, during my deepest grief, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Maybe not. The nostalgic calm it offered was needed to dilute my mind’s mourning mire – but the perspectives it had given me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: accept the turmoil, put everything you’ve got into preserved goods and firearms and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my go-to cinematic solace.