This spell can be resisted. Went into the Well to do "What Lies Below" and specifically to get the achievement "Hollow Victory". SK & Rogue. SK had no problem getting Barren Soul on himself. It didn't matter if he was FD or tanking - in front or behind the mob.
I (Rogue) could not get this Barren Soul to land on me no matter where I was positioned. After, fading off Zurlack several times it finally dawned on us that my corruption was 147 and his was 25. I took off most gear and got my corruption down to 30. Next time we engaged the mob I had "Barren Soul" within seconds and we were able to get the zombie illusion and kill Zurlack quickly.
If you have high corruption reminder to take off the gear. SK also wore another illusion for AC and "Barren Soul" was still able to land on him.