After the success of Gremlins, a sequel seemed inevitable. Yet despite the massive box office success and pop culture impact of the first movie, it seemed like no one aside from the accounting department at Warner Brothers wanted to make the new thing. It took a lot of coaching, a massive upgrade in pay and the promise to let him do anything he wanted as long as Gizmo and gremlins were involved to get Joe Dante behind the camera for another go-round.
The result? Perhaps the best middle finger to corporate movie making we’ve ever been blessed with. The New Batch takes everything we loved about the first movie, cranked the dial to eleven and added in heaping servings of critiques on consumerism and mass media. That the film was a minor disappointment at the box office doesn’t matter. In fact, Dante seemed to relish in the movie underperforming at the box office, as it proved his point there was no great need for more of these films.
Over the years The New Batch has received a revaluation, with critics and fans lauding Dante’s subversive and cynical sense of humor. Gremlins 2 is the closest marriage of the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons with the gross-out terror of EC Comics. Adding Rick Baker to create the gremlin creatures for the second go-round allowed for a more diverse cast of critters imbued with their own personalities and idiosyncrasies that managed to improve on an already near-flawless movie monster. It’s a classic that just gets better with every viewing.
This week we’re joined by Kay Lynch. Kay is the director of the Salem Horror Festival, which just wrapped it’s fifth season with massive in-person and virtual programs. Also joining us is Rachel Reeves, co-host of The Losers’ Club podcast and writer whose bylines have appeared on Rue Morgue, Consequence of Sound, and Dread Central among others.
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