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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into canned food and shotguns.” That bit of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, speaking, bespectacled member of the oozy monster mob that overruns Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s merely an financial suggestion from one monster to another. Yet, in a strange manner, it’s also pretty solid existential counsel. Seriously, listen to my reasoning.

When things go bad, the most counterproductive action you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Actually, the majority of the fang-bearing creatures that inhabit Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (arguably his best) possess the same wry, meta comic sensibility regarding the blurry line separating everyday life and unadulterated chaos. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and as I age, it’s the theme that resonates the most.

A Childhood Fascination

Naturally, my attachment to this movie wasn’t born on such an philosophical plane. Growing up, 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 likely purchased from an independent video outlet and featuring growling monsters on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films quickly proceeded embedding themselves inside my small, malleable brain. After that point, they became an almost-daily part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original typically gets all the plaudits, thanks largely to its legacy as a partly frightening holiday classic – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its sequel infrequently obtains the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and stick it on. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Over time, it ingrained itself in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they appeared unbothered.

Hidden Rewards and Societal Easter Eggs

As I matured, new understandings rewarded frequent screenings, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his actual-world equivalent.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was modeled after a real-life “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world truly faced apocalypse. 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 providing a grinning portion of meta pop-culture magic ahead of its time.

A Persistent Legacy

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that caught my eye as a child, this subsurface richness maintained my fascination as an adult. Eventually, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no qualms telling me he made the movie with the express purpose of poking fun at 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 cheerfully disclosed. This Looney Tunes-esque defiance and resolve to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I experienced a abrupt familial death recently, I was taken aback to discover that, during my deepest grief, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Perhaps not. The soothing reminiscence it furnished was necessary to dilute my mind’s grief morass – but the perspectives it had imparted to me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just can’t control. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to be like them: embrace the chaos, invest all your resources into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a most improbable origin – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my comfort movie.