🔗 Share this article

“Well, conditions are quite harsh here. We’re advising all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into canned food and shotguns.” This piece of shrewd guidance comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, speaking, glasses-wearing member of the slick creature crowd that infests Manhattan’s ultra-modern Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Superficially, it’s merely an investment tip from one monster to another. Yet, oddly enough, it’s also pretty solid life guidance. Honestly, hear me out.

When situations deteriorate, the most counterproductive action you can do is take things too seriously. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, the majority of the dentally-gifted beasts that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (arguably his best) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the blurry line separating everyday life and absolute bedlam. It’s a particular aspect of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and the older I get, it’s the underlying idea that echoes the loudest.

An Early Life Fascination

Naturally, my connection with this movie did not begin on such an philosophical plane. Growing up, we were limited to a few scratched-up video tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box probably bought from an non-chain rental store and sporting snarling creatures on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films did not delay embedding themselves inside my young, susceptible psyche. After that point, they became an almost-daily part of my youthful watching schedule.

Dante’s first film usually receives all the accolades, thanks largely to its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and let me be clear, I’ve watched Gremlins an incalculable number of times. That said, its successor rarely gets the same level of lofty appreciation, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d always seize the chance to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and play it. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. With repetition, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents observed this fixation, they didn’t seem to mind.

Deeper Delights and Societal Nuggets

As I got older, new understandings enriched frequent screenings, amplifying the pleasure of watching small emerald creatures 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 based squarely upon the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his ginger staff member Marla (Haviland Morris) alluding to his former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp demonstrates more humanity than his real-life counterpart.

The “end of civilisation” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film alternate cuts of a meta sequence where Gremlins hijack the actual feature in progress. A version for theaters, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of self-referential entertainment sorcery ahead of its time.

A Persistent Appeal

While it was makeup maestro Rick Baker’s wonderfully grotesque creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this subsurface richness held my interest as an adult. Eventually, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no hesitation informing me he made the movie with the express purpose of ridiculing those who loved its goofy-but-heartfelt predecessor and wanted more. “We were going to make fun of the fact you came to see it,” he gleefully confessed. This anarchic insubordination and commitment to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only deepened my appreciation further.

When I experienced a sudden family bereavement not long ago, I was surprised to find 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 needed to thin out my mind’s mourning mire – but the insights it had bestowed upon me as an adult were just as useful.

Like Gremlins rampaging through a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just can’t control. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin shares this wisdom. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: welcome the pandemonium, invest all your resources into canned food and shotguns and try not to take things too seriously.

It’s robust worldly wisdom from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my go-to cinematic solace.