'There's Something Wrong with the Children' trailer brings creepy double trouble to new Blumhouse film

The transformation of an innocent child into something darker and more dangerous is a tried-and-true horror trope for a reason. Whether we're talking about classics like The Exorcist or modern features like The Hole in the Ground, there's something still so undeniably effective about taking something so vulnerable, so outwardly in need of protecting, and turning it into something from which you need protection. 

Which brings us to There's Something Wrong with the Children, the new film from director Roxanne Benjamin (Body at Brighton Rock) and studios Blumhouse Television (Blumhouse's next big screen project is the killer robot doll thriller M3GAN) and MGM+ which hopes to put its own intriguing spin on this particular subgenre. The film follows two couples -- Margaret (Alisha Wainwright) and Ben (Zach Gilford) and Ellie (Amanda Crew) and Thomas (Carlos Santos) -- who head out for a weekend trip together along with Ellie and Thomas' children, Lucy (Brielle Guiza) and Spencer (David Mattle). When the families head out on a hike together down what looks like a long-since-disused trail, they find a sprawling abandoned building with what looks like a cave complex underneath.

It's all very fascinating until the next morning, when Lucy and Spencer turn up missing. Of course, when the parents finally track down their kids, Ben starts to suspect that something is very wrong, even if the rest of the adults don't believe him.

Check out the trailer below:

There's a lot to like about this trailer, beginning with the setting. Framing the action, and the source of the horror, around such an atmospheric location is a great start to a scary movie narrative, and that old building genuinely looks like a place worth exploring. Framing the change in the children as something only Ben notices (as first, anyway) is also a nice choice, adding to the rising tension of what exactly these kids will do and, of course, raising the question of who's really changed: Ben or the kids? Throw in some nice visual effects creating subtle shifts in the kids, and what feels like a solid ensemble cast, and you've got a horror film worth checking out.

There's Something Wrong with the Children arrives on digital and on-demand services Jan. 17, ahead of a streaming release on MGM+ March 17. 

Looking for more horror? Scary hits like Halloween Ends and They/Them are streaming now on Peacock. On the big screen, M3GAN opens Jan. 6.