Ghost hunting and paranormal investigative documentaries have exponentially grown in popularity over the years. Just scroll through any streaming service or cable lineup, and you’ll find half a dozen of these types of entertainment on any given day. 

It’s assumptive to say that this is due to the simple fact of supply and demand – if a large amount of viewers want it, why wouldn’t you saturate the market? After a while, though, there’s enough competition out there that you’ll have to find innovative ways to set yourself apart from the others. Field of Fears: The Haunting of Randolph County Asylum takes an exhaustively deep, speculative dive into the research of one of America’s most notoriously haunted institutions. 

The documentary begins with a brief historical overview of the Randolph County Asylum in Winchester, Indiana, where we learn that the lore of the land itself dates back to 1851. Once a county poor house, it eventually became an asylum for those who were deemed mentally ill or incapable of caring for themselves.

We’re treated with several spooky shots of both the outside and interior of the building, which are all very theatrical and immersive. Shortly after, we are given a quick overview of the history of the asylum by employee Kate Thornburg. She takes great care in explaining that the word “asylum” may conjure up thoughts of those who are insane, when in reality for the time, it was a more complex matter. This is then corroborated by writer/director Matthew J. Sorge, and is quickly followed by a series of cinematic interpretations of how the patients were tortured and mistreated.

After this sequence, the film segues into its main format, which is a group of paranormal investigators who, alongside Medium Sky Raye, attempt to uncover and capture the rumored spectral happenings within the walls of the asylum.

Sorge, Raye, and a group of other documentarians subsequently spend four years exploring and recording their findings, all of which are compiled together for this film. The fact that so much time and effort was involved in corroborating the story of the spirits that supposedly haunt the hallways and rooms of this building is an impressive feat – that is, if you believe in such reports.

This is where it’s important to separate such a review based on whether the viewer is a believer or a skeptic. If you are an ardent acceptant of ghosts and the paranormal, then you are going to find a multitude of chilling moments captured on film. If you’re going into this as more of a naysayer, however, you’ll quickly find what you’ve pre-programmed your mind to dispute and logic away.

All that aside, there’s an extensive amount of coverage of the investigators and Raye exploring the dark depths of this old building, using technology and cinematography to capture images and sound that can’t be explained.

There’s a great amount of respect that can be given to this team in the incredible amount of time that was spent researching this location. While their dedication and work can’t be overlooked, there is a glaring problem in the fact that this film is just far too long. Yes, it’s a compilation of several years worth of footage, but the problem lies in the fact that if that wasn’t stated in the beginning, it would be easy to assume that this happened over one single night.

There’s also the glaring fact of the power of group suggestion. There are many moments where one person in the group swears they hear or see something (which isn’t reflected on camera) and the rest in attendance immediately freak out and agree that suddenly they too, felt this unexplainable entity. 

While this is an interesting documentary from a historical standpoint, it would’ve benefited from a shorter runtime, as there’s easily 30-40 minutes of repetitive tediousness that could’ve been trimmed. If supplemented with more actual historical accounts, rather than copious footage of the filmmakers startling each other over sights and sounds that weren’t captured on film, this would’ve been a much more enjoyable watch.