HBO Max Users Have Less Than a Week To Watch One of the Best Horror Sequels Of The 1990s

Horror sequels are often hit or miss. Some struggle to recapture the original’s scare factor and become cash-grab continuations that rely on the franchise’s name, but others manage to get it right. During a decade that saw a resurgence of the genre with movies like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, one horror sequel hit all the right notes to become one of the best follow-ups of the ‘90s, but it’s about to leave HBO Max.

HBO Max users only have a few days left to stream Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Director Joe Dante’s wildly fun follow-up to Gremlins is scheduled to leave the platform on November 30th, making the film difficult to watch during the holiday season and following news that the long-awaited Gremlins 3 is officially in the works. The film is set several years after the 1984 original and sees Billy Peltzer and his bride-to-be, Kate, trying to stop Gizmo and his pals from escaping into New York City.

Gremlins 2: The New Batch Is a Chaotic Follow-up That Broke the Mold

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Gremlins 2: The New Batch isn’t just a successful sequel that continues the story of the original film, it’s a deconstruction of the 1984 classic and sequels altogether that paved the way for meta films that followed. The movie is entirely self-aware in its parody of the original movie, from gags like a gremlin wearing an anti-Gizmo t-shirt to directly questioning the rules about not feeding mogwai after midnight. The movie didn’t stop there, though, and it took things a step further by aggressively and self-referentially parodying Hollywood and the idea of a sequel, using frequent fourth wall breaks to mock critics and the audience itself and notoriously including a moment where Hulk Hogan yells at the gremlins to restart the movie.

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The film failed to get the attention it deserved upon its release, becoming a box office disappointment when it only grossed $42 million on a $30–50 million budget, but it set a new precedent for what a sequel could be and helped pioneer a meta-commentary style that was popularized and brought into the mainstream later that decade in movies like Scream and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. The film has since gained a deserving cult following and is recognized as an innovative and entertaining sequel. It holds a 72% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Where to Stream Gremlins 2: The New Batch After It Leaves HBO Max?

Gremlins 2: The New Batch fans will want to stream the film while they still can. When the 1990 sequel stops streaming on HBO Max on November 30th, it will be heading off of streaming altogether. The movie isn’t currently available on another streaming platform, and it hasn’t been included on any of the December newsletters. The movie will still be available to rent or buy online, and the original Gremlins is set to remain on HBO Max for the time being and is also set to join Hulu on December 1st.

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