"The Watseka Wonder" didn't ring any bells for me, but I soon discovered that the case explored here was one I was somewhat familiar with -- the extraordinary story of young Lurancy Vennum and her spiritual possession by Mary Roff, another girl from the same town who had died about a decade earlier. What makes the story so powerful is the fact that this possessed girl convinced Mary's parents that she was their dead child, demonstrating remarkable knowledge about Mary's life and connections to even distant relatives.

This type of story is not unknown among those who believe in reincarnation, but this is something else entirely because Lurancy was 2 years old when Mary died.

So we have a compelling case of the paranormal here, one more than worthy of study and investigation. The problem I have is with the Booth Brothers, who wrote, edited, directed and produced this documentary. I find it difficult to take the Booth Brothers seriously as investigators -- partly because they always dress like rejects from the band Poison, but mostly because they are basically filmmakers and showmen who like to use too many fancy technological tricks, sound effects and music to juice up a story, as opposed to letting their evidence speak for itself.

Their "seance" at the Mary Roff house is a perfect example of their style: you've got a psychic sitting there hooked into some fancy biometric equipment, a laser display taking place all around him, with Ovilus responses thrown into the mix willy-nilly and totally devoid of the context in which they may have been recorded. It's more of a carnival show than a serious investigation. Elsewhere, the visual evidence they get so excited about tends to consist of images I can't make out at all (although they do catch one intriguing image in this case).

And how do they capture so many clear EVPs? Heck, they capture over a hundred in just a few hours at the old Mary Roff house, which so far as I know isn't even reputed to be haunted.

In the end, I think The Possession is worth watching, but I'm not convinced that the Booth Brothers added anything to a story that is more than capable of standing on its own. If you're unfamiliar with that story, I do suggest you read up on it, though -- it's fascinating.