🔗 Share this article

“Well, it’s rather brutal here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to invest all their resources into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” That bit of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, glasses-wearing member of the oozy monster mob that overruns Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in helmer Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s simply an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. Yet, curiously, it’s also surprisingly sturdy existential counsel. Truly, consider my perspective.

When life takes a turn for the worse, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, a large portion of the fang-bearing creatures that inhabit Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) possess the same wry, meta sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating the mundane and absolute bedlam. It’s one element of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and the older I get, it’s the underlying idea that resonates the most.

A Youthful Fascination

Naturally, my attachment to this movie didn’t start on such an introspective level. In my youth, we were limited to a few battered VHS tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case likely purchased from an off-brand video shop and sporting snarling creatures on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay lodging themselves inside my tiny, impressionable mind. From then on, they became an near-everyday part of my early years entertainment regimen.

Dante’s first film usually receives all the plaudits, thanks largely to its legacy as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. However, its successor rarely gets the same level of high regard, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d retreat into the house and play it. When I got my own TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. Over time, it ingrained itself in my psyche. If my parents noticed this obsession, they didn’t seem to mind.

Deeper Rewards and Pop-Culture References

As I got older, new insights enhanced frequent screenings, elevating the fun of watching diminutive verdant beasts joyously wreck a New York high-rise. I learned the ahead-of-its-time development mogul and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by future president Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his second wife Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp has more heart than his real-life counterpart.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was based on a actual “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner as a contingency for the world really ended. I noticed how Dante took extra pains to film alternate cuts of a self-referential segment where Gremlins seize control of the very film you’re watching. One for cinemas, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.

A Persistent Appeal

While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this deeper gold held my interest as an adult. In time, I even conversed with Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the specific aim of ridiculing those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and desired a sequel. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This Looney Tunes-esque defiance and resolve to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.

When I experienced a abrupt familial death earlier this year, 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. Odd, no? Possibly not. The comforting familiarity it furnished was necessary to thin out my mind’s sadness sludge – but the perspectives 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 is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to be like them: embrace the chaos, put everything you’ve got into canned food and shotguns and try not to approach life with excessive gravity.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a highly unexpected fountain – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will eternally stand as my go-to cinematic solace.