Imprinted in My Consciousness’: Why Gremlins 2: The New Batch Is My Feelgood Movie
“Well, the situation is pretty dire here. We’re advising 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 lab-engineered, talking, glasses-wearing member of the slimy Gremlin horde that overruns Manhattan’s high-tech Clamp Tower skyscraper in director 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, oddly enough, it’s also surprisingly sturdy life advice. Seriously, listen to my reasoning.
When things go bad, the most counterproductive action you can do is approach matters with excessive gravity. The Brain Gremlin comprehends this. Indeed, most of the toothy monsters that inhabit Dante’s wild 1990 film (possibly his finest) possess the same sly, self-aware sense of humour regarding the indistinct border separating the mundane and pure pandemonium. It’s a single component of Gremlins 2: The New Batch that keeps me coming back – and as I age, it’s the underlying idea that echoes the loudest.
A Childhood Fascination
Naturally, my attachment to this movie wasn’t born on such an introspective level. In my youth, we only had a few battered VHS tapes at home. Included within that collection were Gremlins and its second chapter, the latter housed in a chunky ex-rental box almost certainly acquired from an off-brand video shop and featuring growling monsters on its tattered front. I was right away smitten and these films quickly proceeded embedding themselves inside my small, malleable brain. From then on, they became an practically routine part of my youthful watching schedule.
Dante’s initial installment typically gets all the accolades, thanks mostly because of its legacy as a moderately spooky festive favorite – and don’t get me wrong, I’ve watched Gremlins on countless occasions. Nevertheless, its follow-up rarely gets the same level of elevated esteem, which feels a travesty. As a kid, I’d invariably jump at the prospect to watch Gremlins 2. During long summer holidays, I’d seclude myself indoors and stick it on. When I obtained my very own TV-VHS combo unit, it continued playing looped in my bedroom. With repetition, it etched itself permanently in my mindset. If my parents observed this fixation, they appeared unbothered.
Subtler Delights and Pop-Culture Easter Eggs
As I matured, new understandings enriched repeat viewings, heightening the enjoyment of watching small emerald creatures gleefully trash a New York high-rise. I learned the forward-thinking property magnate and Clamp Tower owner, Daniel Clamp (John Glover), was based squarely upon the eventual commander-in-chief Donald Trump, with his auburn-haired worker Marla (Haviland Morris) referencing his one-time partner Marla Maples. Luckily, Clamp has more heart than his genuine article inspiration.
The “doomsday” video Clamp plays during peak-Gremlin chaos? I discovered it was based on a actual “Doomsday” video created by the CNN boss Ted Turner should the world actually met its demise. I noticed how Dante made a special effort to film varying versions of a self-aware scene where Gremlins take over the exact movie you are viewing. An edit for movie houses, one for VHS and TV, each offering a winking bit of fourth-wall-breaking cultural alchemy prior to the concept being mainstream.
A Lasting Influence
While it was creature designer Rick Baker’s fantastically vile creatures that captured my attention as a child, this subsurface richness held my interest as an adult. Eventually, I even spoke to Dante about it myself and he had no reservations telling me he made the movie with the specific aim 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 rebelliousness and commitment to not take his sequel as solemnly as his Warner Bros bosses clearly wanted him to, only made me love it even more.
When I endured a unexpected loss in the family not long ago, I was taken aback to discover that, during my most profound sorrow, all I wanted to do was sit and watch Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Weird, right? Possibly not. The soothing reminiscence it provided was essential to thin out my mind’s sadness sludge – but the insights it had given me as an adult were equally valuable.
Like Gremlins tearing apart a genetics laboratory, there’s particular aspects in life you just cannot manage. Dante understands this. The Brain Gremlin knows it too. Sometimes, you have to be like them: embrace the chaos, commit your entire being into tinned provisions and hunting rifles and try not to take things too seriously.
It’s powerful existential guidance from a most improbable origin – and it’s why Gremlins 2: The New Batch will always be my feelgood film.
