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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” This nugget of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, talking, bespectacled member of the slick creature crowd that infests Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life advice. Honestly, consider my perspective.

When things go bad, the biggest mistake you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Actually, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that occupy Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (debateably his greatest) possess the same knowing, self-referential funny bone regarding the indistinct border separating everyday life and absolute bedlam. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and as I age, it’s the theme that resonates the most.

A Childhood Obsession

Naturally, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an philosophical plane. Growing up, we possessed merely a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box likely purchased from an off-brand video shop and sporting snarling creatures on its worn-out artwork. I was right away smitten and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. Henceforth, they became an almost-daily part of my childhood viewing routine.

Dante’s first film commonly garners all the accolades, thanks largely to its reputation as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. That said, its sequel rarely gets the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d never miss an opportunity to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d seclude myself indoors and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. Over time, it etched itself permanently in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Deeper Delights and Pop-Culture Nuggets

As I got older, new revelations enriched repeat viewings, heightening the enjoyment of watching diminutive verdant beasts gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on future president Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his real-life counterpart.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a genuine “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film different iterations of a self-aware scene where Gremlins take over the exact movie you are viewing. An edit for movie houses, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each offering a winking bit of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy prior to the concept being mainstream.

A Lasting Legacy

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this subsurface richness maintained my fascination as an adult. Ultimately, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations revealing to me he made the movie with the direct intention of ridiculing those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and craved further installments. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This Looney Tunes-esque rebelliousness and commitment to not take his sequel as seriously as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only made me love it even more.

When I endured a unexpected loss in the family recently, I was taken aback to discover that, during my heightest mourning, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Possibly not. The soothing reminiscence it offered was essential to weaken my mind’s sadness sludge – but the stuff it had given me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: welcome the pandemonium, put everything you’ve got into canned food and shotguns and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my feelgood film.