Continuity mistake: In the scene where Eddie Murphy is going into the crypt, he takes one of the lit torches. While they are trying to escape the skeletons, the door to the crypt closes and locks. When they show the shot of his son outside, you see two torches again. When he gets the doors open and they leave, you see one.
Continuity mistake: When the family comes into the mansion, they're wet from running in the rain. Eddie Murphy's lapels are sort of rumpled and his wife's hair is wet. By the time they get to the dining room, they're dry and Eddie's suit looks like it's been pressed.
Continuity mistake: When Sara meets Master Gracey in the library after dinner, he startles her and she trips over some book. She picks two or three books up and has the book bindings in her right hand. The shot changes and instantly, the books have turned 180 degrees so that the bindings are in her left hand as she hands them off to Gracey.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Michael sees the ghost ball for the first time, he screams and Megan comes in. Because of the shock, she drops her cellphone on the floor and we can see where it fell. In the next shot you see the cellphone, not on the same place Megan dropped it. Megan or Michael couldn't have touched it because they where shocked by the ghost ball and were looking at it all the time.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Jim is about to go in to the mausoleum, after Jim tells Meg to take care of her brother, Michel's shirt/collar changes from closed to open in several shots.
Continuity mistake: When Eddie Murphy and his daughter are trapped inside the mausoleum, they are knocking on the door to get Michael to open it. From outside you can see the door is closed, from inside you can see the door is slightly opened.
Answer: He still had control over them, that's why they've never been able to move on.