🔗 Share this article

“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into canned food and shotguns.” This nugget of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, speaking, bespectacled member of the slimy Gremlin horde that infests Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. On the surface, it’s nothing more than an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. However, in a strange manner, it’s also remarkably sound life advice. Seriously, hear me out.

When things go bad, the biggest mistake you can do is view events with undue solemnity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, a large portion of the dentally-gifted beasts that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (possibly his finest) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the indistinct border separating daily routine and unadulterated chaos. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the underlying idea that resonates the most.

A Childhood Fixation

Understandably, my fondness for this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. As a child, we were limited to 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 almost certainly acquired from an non-chain rental store and sporting snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was immediately enamoured and these films quickly proceeded lodging themselves inside my small, malleable brain. After that point, they became an practically routine part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s initial installment usually receives all the accolades, thanks largely to its reputation as a partly frightening holiday classic – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. Nevertheless, 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 sunny school summer breaks, I’d seclude myself indoors and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. With repetition, it ingrained itself in my mental framework. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they appeared unbothered.

Deeper Rewards and Societal Easter Eggs

As I grew, new insights rewarded repeat viewings, amplifying the pleasure of watching little green monsters joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp has more heart than his genuine article inspiration.

The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was inspired by a genuine “Doomsday” video commissioned by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film different iterations of a meta sequence where Gremlins take over the very film you’re watching. A version for theaters, another for home video and television, each providing a grinning portion of meta pop-culture magic ahead of its time.

A Persistent Influence

While it was creature designer 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 interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no reservations telling me he made the movie with the express purpose of ridiculing those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and craved further installments. “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 seriously as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only made me love it even more.

When I endured a abrupt familial death earlier this year, I was taken aback to discover that, during my heightest mourning, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Maybe not. The soothing reminiscence it provided was necessary to weaken my mind’s sadness sludge – but the insights it had bestowed upon me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just can’t control. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: embrace the chaos, commit your entire being into canned food and shotguns and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my feelgood film.