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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” This nugget of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, articulate, bespectacled member of the slick creature crowd that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s merely an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. However, in a strange manner, it’s also pretty solid existential counsel. Truly, listen to my reasoning.

When situations deteriorate, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. In fact, a large portion of the toothy monsters that occupy Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (arguably his best) possess the same sly, self-aware sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating daily routine and unadulterated chaos. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and as I age, it’s the message that resonates the most.

A Childhood Obsession

Understandably, my connection with this movie did not begin on such an philosophical plane. In my youth, we possessed merely a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case likely purchased from an non-chain rental store and sporting snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films wasted no time lodging themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. From then on, they became an near-everyday part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s first film usually receives all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a partly frightening holiday classic – and don’t get me wrong, 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 long summer holidays, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. With repetition, it etched itself permanently in my mental framework. If my parents observed this fixation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Subtler Discoveries and Cultural Easter Eggs

As I matured, new insights rewarded frequent screenings, heightening the enjoyment of watching little green monsters happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused real estate tycoon 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) alluding to his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film varying versions of a self-referential segment where Gremlins hijack the exact movie you are viewing. 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 Influence

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. In time, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the express purpose of ridiculing those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This anarchic rebelliousness and commitment to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I went through a abrupt familial death recently, 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? Possibly not. The soothing reminiscence it furnished was necessary to thin out my mind’s grief morass – but the perspectives it had imparted to me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just are powerless over. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to be like them: accept the turmoil, commit your entire being 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 always be my feelgood film.