I'm going from memory here - I've only seen this film once, and wouldn' waste my time watching it again, but (minority) personal taste aside, the figure in the red annorak, whom Donald Sutherland thinks is his deceased child, is in fact a demonic female dward, who fatally stabs him when he finally catches up with her.
those two weird women are seance holder types and are taking advantage of donald sutherlands wifes vulnerability also. i thought the film was really good actually, whoever said it wasn't