Imprinted in My Psyche’: Why Gremlins 2: The New Batch Is My Feelgood Movie
“Well, it’s rather brutal here. The guidance we offer all of our clients to invest all their resources into tinned provisions and hunting rifles.” That bit of wise counsel comes from the Brain Gremlin – a scientifically altered, articulate, spectacled member of the oozy monster mob that overruns Manhattan’s super-smart Clamp Tower skyscraper in filmmaker Joe Dante’s madcap sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. At first glance, it’s merely an portfolio pointer from one monster to another. Yet, oddly enough, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life guidance. Seriously, hear me out.
When life takes a turn for the worse, the worst thing you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin grasps this. Actually, most of the fang-bearing creatures that populate Dante’s wild 1990 film (possibly his finest) possess the same wry, meta comic sensibility regarding the indistinct border separating the mundane and pure pandemonium. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that maintains my loyalty – and the older I get, it’s the theme that resonates the most.
A Childhood Obsession
Of course, my attachment to this movie did not begin on such an philosophical plane. Growing up, we possessed merely a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its follow-up, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and featuring growling monsters on its knackered cover. I was immediately enamoured and these films did not delay inserting themselves inside my small, malleable brain. Henceforth, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.
Dante’s first film typically gets all the accolades, thanks primarily due to its legacy as a semi-scary seasonal fave – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins more times than I can count. That said, its successor seldom receives the same level of elevated esteem, which feels unjust. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d seclude myself indoors and pop it in. When I acquired my personal TV-VHS combo unit, it remained on repeat in my bedroom. With repetition, it became deeply rooted in my psyche. If my parents detected this preoccupation, they gave no indication of concern.
Subtler Rewards and Pop-Culture Nuggets
As I matured, new insights rewarded multiple watches, amplifying the pleasure of watching little green monsters joyously wreck 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) alluding to his former spouse Marla Maples. Fortunately, Clamp has more heart than his real-life counterpart.
The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during maximum monster mayhem? I discovered it was inspired by a real-life “Doomsday” video produced by the CNN boss Ted Turner in case the world truly faced apocalypse. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film varying versions of a self-referential segment where Gremlins hijack the actual feature in progress. An edit for movie houses, a separate one for tape and broadcast, each delivering a smirking slice of meta pop-culture magic before the term was even a thing.
A Persistent Appeal
While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that drew my gaze as a child, this hidden treasure held my interest as an adult. Ultimately, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations telling me he made the movie with the direct intention 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 gleefully confessed. This Looney Tunes-esque defiance and resolve to not take his sequel as gravely as his Warner Bros bosses evidently expected, only made me love it even more.
When I experienced a sudden family bereavement not long ago, I was taken aback to discover that, during my heightest mourning, all I desired to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Possibly not. The nostalgic calm it provided was essential to dilute my mind’s grief morass – but the perspectives it had given me as an adult were similarly beneficial.
Like Gremlins running amok in a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just cannot manage. Dante is aware of it. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to emulate them: welcome the pandemonium, invest all your resources into preserved goods and firearms and try not to view the world with undue solemnity.
It’s robust worldly wisdom from a very unlikely source – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will forever remain my comfort movie.
