CinePunked returns to the Gremlins franchise with Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Sequels are often seen as the poorer siblings, does Gremlins 2 follow that trend, or does it do something else? How did merchandising impact the film? And do we need or want a Gremlins 3?
With Robert JE Simpson and Neil Sedgewick
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SLEEVE NOTES
They often suggest that sequels follow a law of diminishing returns, and with some trepidation we immediately follow up our Gremlins podcast with a look at its 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch. To be fair, this is entirely down to Neil mis-remembering Gremlins 2 as being set at New Year. Nevertheless, we sat down to chat with relish.
With this conversation we delve a little deeper into the merchandising aspect of the franchise and how, like the Transformers film, a certain cynicism creeps in. We also explore the meta-text and citation of the film, and the possibilities of a sequel.
As with the previous episode I’ve included some of the historical advertising from the time of the film’s release, alongside limited clips from the film. Hopefully it enriches the experience for you.
We recorded the episode via our usual workflow, remotely meeting via a zoom video chat, and I edited in Reaper. Owing to some extra hiss in my clean studio desk record on both these records, I’ve attempted some noise reduction in reaper, which may have added some slight digital artefacting. Hopefully this doesn’t detract too much.
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The CinePunked Podcast is an Avalard Production.
The CinePunked theme music is ‘Riding the Synth‘ – © 2020, Ben Blademan Simpson. Used with permission.
The episode features clips and a trailer from Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) directed by Joe Dante, used under fair use guidelines for the purposes of critical review and analysis.
This episode also includes contemporaneous advertisements for assorted Gremlins 2 promotional items, which are presented for historical context.
Episode recorded remotely in Coleraine and Newtownards, Northern Ireland on 12 December 2024.
Engineered and edited by Robert JE Simpson. First published on 4 January 2025.
– Robert
CinePunked 