"Disappearance" - what's it all about?

[Jessie L]

I watched the 2002 film "Disappearance" on the Sci-fi channel yeasterday. It's the second time I've seen it and I'm still no wiser!
Can anyone explain it to me?

What is the creature down the pit in the Ghost Town?
What or who steals their car, drives the old school bus in front of them to stop them leaving, and appears at the window?
What is the significance of the Raven?
Whose is the skin tacked to the wall?
What really happens to Ethan in the desert?
How is that policeman involved?

And PLEASE can anyone explain the ending and what they are all doing in the diner.

I just didn't understand any of it!

[neverrusty]

Seems no one else does either.....

[$BoomBoom$]

It's a while since I've seen it but from what I can remember it was left deliberately ambiguous - hinting at survivors or the spirits of the survivors of the nuclear tests carried out in the area, also wasn't there a native american burial ground there somewhere - more hints at avenging spirits. In fact I seem to remember hints at something extraterrestrial too.

Whatever it was down the pit, steals the car, moves the school bus etc is whatever you believe it to be - i.e. some sort of avenging spirit or the nearby townsfolk/aliens. The intent seemed to be to scare the viewer by making a film with scares and insinuations but with no real conclusion.