I would say for the most part all of your observations are correct and the spells are not working as intended. They will likely be fixed in version 1.1, when there will be a massive magic re-balancing. Or try them again after 1.09 comes out tonight or tomorrow.
As a side note the way it works right now casting Confusion on an enemy pretty much makes your units invulnerable for three turns, so enjoy that while it lasts. Good luck hitting me mister -296 attack bone ogre! 