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“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into preserved goods and firearms.” This nugget of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a lab-engineered, articulate, bespectacled member of the slick creature crowd that overruns Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s nothing more than an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. Yet, oddly enough, it’s also pretty solid life advice. Seriously, listen to my reasoning.

When situations deteriorate, the biggest mistake you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin understands this. Indeed, the majority of the toothy monsters that populate Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (arguably his best) possess the same sly, self-aware comic sensibility regarding the blurry line separating everyday life and absolute bedlam. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that ensures my return – and the older I get, it’s the underlying idea that echoes the loudest.

A Childhood Fascination

Naturally, my attachment to this movie didn’t start on such an philosophical plane. In my youth, we were limited to a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case probably bought from an independent video outlet and featuring snarling creatures on its knackered cover. I was right away smitten and these films did not delay lodging themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. After that point, they became an almost-daily part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s first film typically gets all the plaudits, thanks largely to its status as a partly frightening holiday classic – and to be fair, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. That said, its sequel seldom receives the same level of high regard, 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 stick it on. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. Over time, it etched itself permanently in my mental framework. If my parents observed this fixation, they gave no indication of concern.

Hidden Discoveries and Societal Nuggets

As I matured, new revelations rewarded multiple watches, elevating the fun of watching little green monsters happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by future president Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his second wife Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his actual-world equivalent.

The “apocalyptic” 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 as a contingency for the world really ended. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film different iterations of a meta sequence where Gremlins seize control of the actual feature in progress. An edit for movie houses, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic ahead of its time.

An Enduring Appeal

While it was effects expert Rick Baker’s fantastically vile 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 telling me he made the movie with the specific aim of poking fun at 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 gleefully confessed. This cartoonish defiance and resolve to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only made me love it even more.

When I went through a abrupt familial death recently, I was astonished to realize that, during my most profound sorrow, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Strange, isn’t it? Possibly not. The soothing reminiscence it provided was essential to dilute my mind’s mourning mire – but the perspectives it had imparted to me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins rampaging through 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 emulate them: accept the turmoil, commit your entire being into canned food and shotguns and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my go-to cinematic solace.