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“Well, it’s rather brutal here. We’re advising all of our clients to invest all their resources into canned food and shotguns.” That bit of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, talking, bespectacled member of the oozy monster mob that infests Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. But, in a strange manner, it’s also remarkably sound life guidance. Truly, hear me out.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the biggest mistake you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Actually, the majority of the dentally-gifted beasts that inhabit Dante’s wild 1990 film (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 particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and the older I get, it’s the underlying idea that strikes the deepest chord.

A Childhood Fascination

Naturally, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an introspective level. Growing up, we only had a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box likely purchased from an off-brand video shop and featuring growling monsters on its worn-out artwork. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay lodging themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s initial installment commonly garners all the accolades, thanks largely to its reputation as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. That said, its follow-up rarely gets the same level of high regard, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During bright summer vacations, I’d seclude myself indoors and pop it in. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. With repetition, it etched itself permanently in my psyche. If my parents noticed this obsession, they appeared unbothered.

Deeper Rewards and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs

As I grew, new revelations enhanced frequent screenings, amplifying the pleasure of watching diminutive verdant beasts gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee 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 peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was modeled after a real-life “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film varying versions of a self-aware scene where Gremlins hijack the exact movie you are viewing. An edit for movie houses, another for home video and television, each offering a winking bit of self-referential entertainment sorcery ahead of its time.

A Lasting Influence

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this subsurface richness kept me hooked as an adult. In time, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation revealing to me he made the movie with the direct intention of mocking 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 anarchic defiance and resolve to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only increased my affection for it.

When I went through a unexpected loss in the family 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. Strange, isn’t it? Maybe not. The comforting familiarity it provided was needed to dilute my mind’s grief morass – but the stuff it had bestowed upon me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just cannot manage. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to be like them: embrace the chaos, put everything you’ve got into preserved goods and firearms and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s strong life advice from a most improbable origin – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my go-to cinematic solace.