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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to invest all their resources into preserved goods and firearms.” This piece of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, speaking, spectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s nothing more than an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, in a strange manner, it’s also surprisingly sturdy existential counsel. Honestly, consider my perspective.

When things go bad, the most counterproductive action you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Indeed, most of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (debateably his greatest) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating the mundane and absolute bedlam. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and as I age, it’s the theme that resonates the most.

A Youthful Obsession

Understandably, my fondness for this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. As a child, we only had a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box almost certainly acquired from an independent video outlet and featuring growling monsters on its worn-out artwork. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded lodging themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s first film typically gets all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. Nevertheless, its follow-up seldom receives the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d lock myself inside and pop it in. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Gradually, it etched itself permanently in my mindset. If my parents observed this fixation, they appeared unbothered.

Deeper Discoveries and Pop-Culture References

As I matured, new insights enriched frequent screenings, 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) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp has more heart than his actual-world equivalent.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a real-life “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film different iterations of a self-referential segment where Gremlins seize control of the very film you’re watching. A version for theaters, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of self-referential entertainment sorcery prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Lasting Appeal

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this subsurface richness maintained my fascination as an adult. In time, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no qualms telling me he made the movie with the direct intention of poking fun at 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 happily revealed. This cartoonish rebelliousness and determination to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I endured a abrupt familial death recently, I was surprised to find 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 comforting familiarity it provided was needed to weaken my mind’s mourning mire – but the insights 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 cannot manage. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to be like them: accept the turmoil, invest all your resources into preserved goods and firearms and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a most improbable origin – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my comfort movie.