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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, articulate, bespectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. But, in a strange manner, it’s also remarkably sound existential counsel. Honestly, consider my perspective.

When situations deteriorate, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. In fact, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that occupy Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same sly, self-aware comic sensibility regarding the indistinct border separating the mundane and pure pandemonium. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and as I age, it’s the underlying idea that resonates the most.

An Early Life Obsession

Of course, my fondness for this movie wasn’t born on such an deeply thoughtful note. Growing up, we possessed merely a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case almost certainly acquired from an non-chain rental store and sporting snarling creatures on its knackered cover. I was right away smitten and these films quickly proceeded embedding themselves inside my small, malleable brain. After that point, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s initial installment typically gets all the praise, thanks primarily due to its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. However, its follow-up rarely gets the same level of high regard, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d retreat into the house and stick it on. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it stayed in constant rotation in my bedroom. With repetition, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Deeper Rewards and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs

As I got older, new revelations rewarded repeat viewings, amplifying the pleasure of watching diminutive verdant beasts happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his former spouse Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his actual-world equivalent.

The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a actual “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film different iterations of a self-aware scene where Gremlins seize control of the very film you’re watching. A version for theaters, one for VHS and TV, each providing a grinning portion of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy before the term was even a thing.

An Enduring Influence

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this hidden treasure held my interest as an adult. In time, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation revealing to me he made the movie with the express purpose of mocking those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he happily revealed. This anarchic rebelliousness and determination to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only increased my affection for it.

When I went through a unexpected loss in the family not long ago, I was surprised to find that, during my heightest mourning, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Maybe not. The nostalgic calm it furnished was essential to thin out my mind’s sadness sludge – but the insights it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just are powerless over. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: accept the turmoil, put everything you’ve got into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

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 go-to cinematic solace.