🔗 Share this article

“Well, it’s rather brutal here. We’re advising all of our clients to put everything they’ve got into canned food and shotguns.” That bit of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, talking, glasses-wearing member of the oozy monster mob that overruns Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s merely an financial suggestion from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life guidance. Seriously, consider my perspective.

When situations deteriorate, the biggest mistake you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Actually, most of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s unrestrained 1990 movie (debateably his greatest) possess the same wry, meta sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating daily routine and absolute bedlam. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the theme that resonates the most.

A Childhood Fixation

Understandably, my connection with this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. In my youth, we possessed merely a few well-worn videocassettes at home. Part of that group were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case almost certainly acquired from an independent video outlet and boasting snarling creatures on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay inserting themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. From then on, they became an near-everyday part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s original commonly garners all the praise, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a partly frightening holiday classic – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. That said, its sequel seldom receives the same level of elevated esteem, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d retreat into the house and play it. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it etched itself permanently in my mental framework. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.

Hidden Rewards and Pop-Culture References

As I matured, new revelations enhanced repeat viewings, heightening the enjoyment of watching small emerald creatures gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time real estate tycoon and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by future president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his second wife Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his genuine article inspiration.

The “apocalyptic” 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 really ended. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film alternate cuts of a meta sequence where Gremlins hijack the exact movie you are viewing. An edit for movie houses, another for home video and television, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

A Lasting Appeal

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that captured my attention as a child, this hidden treasure maintained my fascination 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 specific aim of mocking those who loved its absurd-yet-genuine 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 resolve to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only increased my affection for it.

When I experienced a abrupt familial death recently, I was astonished to realize that, during my most profound sorrow, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Possibly not. The comforting familiarity it offered was necessary to thin out my mind’s mourning mire – but the perspectives it had imparted to me as an adult were equally valuable.

Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just cannot manage. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to follow their example: welcome the pandemonium, commit your entire being into preserved goods and firearms and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s strong life advice from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my feelgood film.