Reasons this movie made no sense.

Anna Paquin portrays a teenager; somewhere around 15 or 16. Carlos was a somewhat older teenage (say 19 perhaps 20); at school; who is a swimming instructor.

The Dad must have only recently returned to Spain. He is in his late 40s and the movie implies that he left spain when around 7 or 8. Presumeably he never returned or at least never lived in Spain again until recently. Why he and his family moved to Spain is not explained in the movie and is something of a mystery (other than the fact that his father still lives there). Anyway, it is quite reasonable to suppose that a child that leaves his country at such an early age eventually would loose his or her accent. I can name a few well known people who did just that (left their native country when children, came to the United States, and spoke fluent English the rest of their lives with no accent). However, you are right about this point when you mention the other characters who are native Spainards that never left Spain and who are speaking amongst each other in English.

Kids vary in their appearance every day. However, the parents did not ignore this when it became evident that he was under great stress (black eyes).

[deleted]

I know you wrote this in 2006 but there isn't a single British accent in the entire movie is there? And the dad had an accent, which I thought was odd since he left for the states at a very young age and would have no doubt lost it entirely. Turns out he's a Scot doing a bad American accent and Lena Olin is Swedish and was also unable to shake her accent. Not clear if she was supposed to sound American or not. The boyfriend and Grandfather spoke English with a Spanish accent which is how it should be.

I agree that it didn't make sense that she had a boyfriend she was so close with if they had only been in the country for three weeks. However, her dad was a teacher and said the Semester didn't start for a month which would explain why she wasn't at school, but not what the swim practice was about. How could she be on a swim team if school hadn't even started yet and she only just moved there? Also her brother starts school a month before her?

I also agree how unbelievably unconcerned the mother was about everything. This kind of inexplicable ignorance is par for the course in the horror genre but this may be the single most annoying instance of it in all of celluloid history.

What if a squirrel wants a sausage?

Beware Spoilers!

1. True. But Carlos could be the typical guy that has a crush on a girl from the moment he sees her. It happens all the time. I am sure the scene when this happens was cut. But I don't think it is absolutely important for the global narration.
2. You can live in Spain and never exit your English speaking circles, as it happens in most other countries, especially when you live in or near Madrid and Barcelona.
3. I think this point is fairly well explained in the movie: The mother thinks her son is trying to draw attention, and she decides to ignore this fact, following the doctor/grandfather's advice. When the marks get worse, she too gets alarmed.

I don't think Ian Glen ia a ridiculous actor. Most of an O.K. actor.

Finally, I am glad I gave this movie a chance despite of all bad reviews. It is a fairly good movie.

I agree with you.

I started watching this movie in the middle about 6 months ago and thought it was pretty good until the end. What? Today, I caught it from the beginning and like you things just don't make sense.

1. Why exactly did they go to live in Spain in a run down house? I don't care
if it's paid for.

2. Why is grand dad the family doctor?

3. Dad has had a mental breakdown in the past. You move to a different
continent when moving period is a stressful event that may cause a relapse.

4. Dad starts to go crazy and son gets mysterious bruises and mom doesn't do
anything? Ok, mom being possessed would explain it.

5. Mom does have periods of sanity...why doesn't she take her kids, go back
to the states and leave crazy dad in Spain?

6. Someone remind me....what do the parents do for a living?

1. I don't know.

2. My understanding was that after the failed experiment, when the dad (as a little boy) ran from the house, he went away with his mother, probably to England.

3. The mom was no doubt completely overwhelmed. She is in a foreign country and her husband has a very serious illness that affects his behavior. As the wife of a man who was diagnosed with a mental illness after we'd been married 15 years, I would not just dump him. The mom is trying to cope and not doing well. They seem to have moved to Spain for the support of the grandfather as a doctor and family member.

To me what makes no sense is the original goal of the cult. Why would you want to unleash unknown evil into the world? Seems stupid to me.