‘Ingrained in My Psyche’: The Reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch Is My Comfort Movie
“Well, it’s rather brutal here. Our recommendation is all of our clients to commit their entire holdings into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” This nugget of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a genetically modified, articulate, bespectacled member of the slick creature crowd that swarms Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s zany follow-up Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s simply an investment tip from one monster to another. Yet, curiously, it’s also pretty solid life advice. Truly, consider my perspective.
When things go bad, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Actually, a large portion of the fang-bearing creatures that inhabit Dante’s wild 1990 film (debateably his greatest) possess the same knowing, self-referential sense of humour regarding the indistinct border separating everyday life and unadulterated chaos. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and with the passage of time, it’s the message that resonates the most.
An Early Life Fascination
Naturally, my fondness for this movie did not begin on such an deeply thoughtful note. Growing up, we only had a few battered VHS tapes at home. Among them were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a bulky previously-rented case almost certainly acquired from an non-chain rental store and featuring growling monsters on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films wasted no time embedding themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an near-everyday part of my childhood viewing routine.
Dante’s original commonly garners all the praise, thanks mostly because of 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 lofty appreciation, which feels criminal. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During sunny school summer breaks, I’d lock myself inside and pop it in. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. Gradually, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents noticed this obsession, they appeared unbothered.
Subtler Rewards and Societal References
As I matured, new insights enhanced multiple watches, amplifying the pleasure of watching diminutive verdant beasts 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 based squarely upon the later-to-be-president Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) echoing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Thankfully, Clamp possesses greater compassion than his actual-world equivalent.
The “apocalyptic” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante went out of his way to film varying versions of a self-referential segment where Gremlins take over the actual feature in progress. One for cinemas, one for VHS and TV, each delivering a smirking slice of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy ahead of its time.
A Lasting Appeal
While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this deeper gold maintained my fascination as an adult. Ultimately, I even interviewed Dante about it myself and he had no reservations revealing to me he made the movie with the specific aim of poking fun at 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 cheerfully disclosed. This Looney Tunes-esque insubordination and resolve to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only increased my affection for it.
When I experienced a sudden family bereavement earlier this year, I was taken aback to discover that, during my deepest grief, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Odd, no? Maybe not. The nostalgic calm it provided was essential to dilute my mind’s sadness sludge – but the stuff it had given me as an adult were similarly beneficial.
Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just can’t control. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin agrees completely. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: embrace the chaos, invest all your resources into canned food and shotguns and try not to take things too seriously.
It’s powerful existential guidance from a very unlikely source – and it’s the reason Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my comfort movie.
