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“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” This nugget of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, speaking, bespectacled member of the slick creature crowd that overruns Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s nothing more than an investment tip from one monster to another. Yet, curiously, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Honestly, listen to my reasoning.

When situations deteriorate, the worst thing you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Indeed, most of the toothy monsters that occupy Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same sly, self-aware funny bone regarding the indistinct border separating daily routine 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 strikes the deepest chord.

A Youthful Fixation

Understandably, my fondness for this movie didn’t start on such an deeply thoughtful note. In my youth, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a thick former-rental sleeve almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and featuring grimacing beasts on its worn-out artwork. I was right away smitten and these films quickly proceeded inserting themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. After that point, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s original usually receives all the plaudits, thanks primarily due to its reputation as a partly frightening holiday classic – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. However, its successor seldom receives the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect 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 continued playing looped in my bedroom. Over time, it became deeply rooted in my mental framework. If my parents observed this fixation, they gave no indication of concern.

Hidden Rewards and Pop-Culture Nuggets

As I grew, new insights rewarded frequent screenings, elevating the fun of watching little green monsters joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was modeled closely on future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp has more heart than his genuine article inspiration.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during the height of creature carnage? I discovered it was based on a genuine “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film varying versions of a meta sequence where Gremlins seize control of the very film you’re watching. An edit for movie houses, another for home video and television, each offering a winking bit of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy prior to the concept being mainstream.

An Enduring Influence

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this deeper gold maintained my fascination as an adult. Ultimately, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no reservations revealing to me he made the movie with the specific aim of poking fun at those who loved its silly-yet-sincere predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he cheerfully disclosed. This Looney Tunes-esque insubordination and commitment to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I experienced a unexpected loss in the family recently, I was surprised to find that, during my most profound sorrow, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Perhaps not. The soothing reminiscence it provided was essential to dilute my mind’s mourning mire – but the stuff it had bestowed upon me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s some things in life you just can’t control. 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 preserved goods and firearms and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.