All buildup; no payoff

Rating: 4/10 (9 December 2017)

The only reason I gave this film any points at all is because of James McAvoy's performance, which was impressive in its range (see similar films by Peter Sellers or Alec Guinness to compare).
I enjoyed "Sixth Sense" and "Signs" and have been waiting ever since to see if MNS can create another film on their level. The answer seems to be no.
I thought this would be a psychological thriller, which it leads you to believe. But it ends up being a cheesy "comic book" style movie, with scantily-clad teenage girls being abused and a supernatural human monster. I thought at least there would be some big "reveal" near the end to make it satisfying, but there wasn't. Are we supposed to be impressed that it all took place in a zoo? (Notice that "zoo" starts with zzzzzzz...) Or that this film is apparently a sequel to "Unbreakable," a forgettable movie I saw ages ago?
There's also a subtext about child abuse which is disturbing. The psycho was abused as a child, and we learn that the survivor girl ALSO was abused...by a creepy uncle. She has marks on her body from cutting and from cigarettes, which we don't see until about 1:42:00 - self-inflicted, or done by uncle? And at the end we learn she is still in the custody of said uncle. This girl is supposed to be smart, yet she says nothing to anyone about the abuse?
Now MNS reveals this is the "middle film" in a trilogy. And if you're familiar with other middle films of trilogies, you know that usually means an unsatisfactory ending and a plot that just treads water. That's what we have here, folks. Don't waste your time, despite good performances by McEvoy and Buckley.