🔗 Share this article

“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into preserved goods and firearms.” This piece of sage advice comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, speaking, spectacled member of the oozy monster mob that infests Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director Joe Dante’s unhinged continuation Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s nothing more than an investment tip from one monster to another. However, curiously, it’s also remarkably sound existential counsel. Honestly, hear me out.

When situations deteriorate, the most counterproductive action you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin understands this. In fact, most of the dentally-gifted beasts that occupy Dante’s chaotic 1990 feature (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating the mundane and pure pandemonium. It’s one element 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

Understandably, my connection with this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. Growing up, we possessed merely a few battered VHS tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its sequel, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box likely purchased from an independent video outlet and sporting grimacing beasts on its worn-out artwork. I was instantly captivated and these films quickly proceeded embedding themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. From then on, they became an practically routine part of my childhood viewing routine.

Dante’s initial installment typically gets all the accolades, thanks primarily due to its status as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. Nevertheless, its follow-up infrequently obtains the same level of elevated esteem, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d retreat into the house and pop it in. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Hidden Discoveries and Societal References

As I got older, new understandings rewarded frequent screenings, heightening the enjoyment of watching little green monsters happily vandalize a New York high-rise. I learned the future-focused property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was inspired directly by the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his red-headed employee Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Luckily, 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 genuine “Doomsday” video created 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 self-referential segment where Gremlins seize control of the actual feature in progress. A version for theaters, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each providing a grinning portion of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy before the term was even a thing.

An Enduring Appeal

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s gloriously nasty-looking creatures that caught my eye as a child, this subsurface richness held my interest as an adult. In time, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no reservations informing me he made the movie with the express purpose of mocking 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 happily revealed. This anarchic defiance and resolve to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses obviously desired, only increased my affection for it.

When I went through a abrupt familial death not long ago, I was astonished to realize that, during my heightest mourning, all I felt compelled to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Possibly not. The comforting familiarity it furnished was necessary to weaken my mind’s grief morass – but the perspectives it had imparted to me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s certain elements in life you just are powerless over. Dante knows it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: welcome the pandemonium, commit your entire being into canned food and shotguns and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.

It’s powerful existential guidance from a most improbable origin – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my go-to cinematic solace.