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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 shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, glasses-wearing member of the slick creature crowd that infests 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, oddly enough, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life advice. Honestly, hear me out.

When things go bad, the biggest mistake you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin understands this. In fact, most of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the indistinct border 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 strikes the deepest chord.

A Childhood Fixation

Of course, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an deeply thoughtful note. In my youth, we only had a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case almost certainly acquired from an independent video outlet and sporting snarling creatures on its worn-out artwork. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original typically gets all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. 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 acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Over time, it ingrained itself in my mindset. If my parents observed this fixation, they gave no indication of concern.

Hidden Delights and Societal References

As I got older, new insights enhanced repeat viewings, elevating the fun of watching small emerald creatures gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by future president Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his second wife Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his genuine article inspiration.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was modeled after a actual “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world really ended. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film varying versions of a meta sequence where Gremlins hijack the actual feature in progress. An edit for movie houses, 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 Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that drew my gaze 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 telling me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This anarchic rebelliousness and determination to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only made me love it even more.

When I endured a unexpected loss in the family not long ago, I was astonished to realize that, during my heightest mourning, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Perhaps not. The nostalgic calm it offered was necessary to weaken my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had bestowed upon me as an adult were similarly beneficial.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just are powerless over. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to be like them: welcome the pandemonium, invest all your resources into preserved goods and firearms and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my go-to cinematic solace.