The hills have Eyes

The Hills Have Eyes, basically tells the story of a family trapped in the Nevada desert and terrified by a family of mutants living in the mountains of that place. It turns out that a lot of people do not know that this story was inspired by the legendary figure of Alexander "Sawney" Bean.

The real story that happens in the fifteenth century, Sawney, who was the son of a landscaper, did not want to follow in his father's footsteps. When he married, he took his wife and took her to live with him in a coastal cave in the Bennane Head region of Scotland. There they lived and raised their family of eight sons and six daughters, who earned them eighteen grandchildren and fourteen granddaughters, much of it being the product of incest.

During the day they slept in the cave, and the night went forth to exercise their offices. With the help of darkness, Bean ambushed the travelers, stealing and then murdering them. The bodies were then taken to the cave where they would be properly dismembered and prepared for dinner. For 25 years the family worked in secret.

Although villagers close to the scene knew of the disappearances, sometimes they found parts of bodies in the mountains, they had no knowledge of who would be responsible for the crimes.

The Bean were eventually discovered when they tried to ambush a young man who was more skilled at using the sword than they could imagine. The young man was able to hold the attackers until help arrived. Oppressed, the Bean returned to the safety of their cave. Now, knowing the presence of the Bean, the people of Bennane Head sent a message to King James VI, who decided to send his soldiers in search of these "demons."

The soldiers left with hunting dogs and were taken by them to a cave along the coast. Inside the cave, they found not only the Bean family but also the remains of several of its victims who had not been eaten entirely. The Beans were taken to Edinburgh, where they were sentenced to death without trial.

The men were first castrated, and soon after had their feet and hands cut off. They died slowly from the loss of blood. The women and children were forced to see the death of the men in their family, and soon afterwards they were burned alive.

To estimate that the Bean family in its 25 years of attacks has claimed the lives of more than 1000 people.

Some historians claim that Sawney Bean is nothing more than a myth and, if true, was too much of an exaggeration. The first version of the story came only in the eighteenth century and, moreover, there are no reports of the disappearance of more than 1000 people in the Bennane Head region in the 15th century.

However, there are several historical records of the fifteenth century that report periods of famine that forced several family to practice cannibalism. It is also believed that the Sawney Bean family may have existed centuries earlier during the "Black Age" of Scotland, and their stories have been told word of mouth for a long time, written only in the eighteenth century and incorrectly attributed to the century XV.