Sawney Bean: Real Terror Behind ‘The Hills Have Eyes’

[00:00:01] Welcome to Scary Mystery Surprise, where we talk about scary things that surprised us around the internet.

[00:00:35] I'm Edwin. And I'm Michelle.

[00:00:37] So we're settling in for a little film history.

[00:00:46] In the late 1970s, Wes Craven, who you know, correct?

[00:00:52] No.

[00:00:56] Wes Craven is the horror filmmaker, you know?

[00:01:00] His first horror classic was The Last House on the Left.

[00:01:03] And he realized he had a talent for scaring people.

[00:01:06] Also, he could only get funding for scary movies, which I think is funny.

[00:01:11] But he also became one of the most well-known, best-known horror filmmakers of all time.

[00:01:18] Wow.

[00:01:19] He's responsible for a lot of movies.

[00:01:22] But today we're going to talk about one in particular, which the title scares me.

[00:01:27] So 40 years ago, he produced another film on a very tight budget called The Hills Have Eyes.

[00:01:33] I didn't know that.

[00:01:35] Like, what's his name?

[00:01:36] What's his name?

[00:01:37] Wes Craven.

[00:01:38] See, how come I don't know about this?

[00:01:39] That just shows you.

[00:01:40] That just shows everyone how little I know about movies like that.

[00:01:43] But yeah, The Hills Have Eyes is the scariest one.

[00:01:45] I've never seen it.

[00:01:46] I'll never see it because of the title.

[00:01:48] It's like human centipede.

[00:01:49] I don't need to see that.

[00:01:50] Yeah, don't.

[00:01:51] Nobody.

[00:01:52] Nobody needs to see that.

[00:01:54] You just get it from the title.

[00:01:55] It's good SEO.

[00:01:58] But that's how I feel about The Hills Have Eyes, which is funny because like when

[00:02:02] I was a teen at nighttime, we'd hike down to different beaches and we were hiking

[00:02:06] down to this one beach and there was a massive hill.

[00:02:09] And this kid that we were with was just like, The Hills Have Eyes.

[00:02:13] And we sprinted back up that hill.

[00:02:16] He just had to say, The Hills Have Eyes.

[00:02:19] And then your brain just fills in what that is.

[00:02:23] It doesn't even matter.

[00:02:25] And so we sprinted back up to the car.

[00:02:28] But in case you've never seen it, here's a small synopsis of The Hills Have Eyes

[00:02:33] because it's pretty brutal even by today's standards.

[00:02:38] Bob Carter and his wife Ethel and five other family members decide to take their

[00:02:43] camper vans and drive towards San Diego.

[00:02:46] An accident occurs.

[00:02:48] Then the group gets stranded in the desert.

[00:02:50] Two of the men decide to go for help and the rest of the group decides to stay put

[00:02:54] and wait.

[00:02:55] But what they don't know is where they're stranded was where a nuclear test site

[00:02:59] had occurred decades earlier and it mutated a group of people who'd now develop the

[00:03:04] taste for human flesh.

[00:03:07] Yeah, I can visualize all of this.

[00:03:10] I remember that scene.

[00:03:11] The accident wasn't an accident.

[00:03:14] It was they try to stop you.

[00:03:16] I don't want to ruin the movie, but it's yeah.

[00:03:19] No, thank you.

[00:03:22] The fact that I don't even I've never seen it and someone just has to say The

[00:03:26] Hills Have Eyes.

[00:03:27] I'm looking at a dark hill.

[00:03:30] It's an awesome title.

[00:03:31] Honestly, it's descriptive.

[00:03:34] But did you know the scary thing is the movie is actually based on a story,

[00:03:39] a true story of Alexander Sonny Bean.

[00:03:43] The man known as Alexander Sonny Bean was born in the late 1500s near

[00:03:52] Edinburgh, Scotland.

[00:03:54] Very little is known about his early days.

[00:03:57] Sonny Bean's father was a ditch digger and a hedge trimmer, and it was said that

[00:04:02] Sonny tried to work within his father's trade, but he wasn't into it.

[00:04:06] And so he left to make his own way in the world.

[00:04:09] He wasn't into that.

[00:04:10] I mean, come on.

[00:04:12] You mean he didn't want to dig ditches for the rest of his life?

[00:04:16] Geez, what an ingrateful bastard.

[00:04:20] After Sonny Bean met the woman he would marry, a woman known as Black

[00:04:25] Agnes Douglas.

[00:04:26] Why was she known as that?

[00:04:29] I don't know, but her name was Black Agnes.

[00:04:32] I'm assuming because she had dark hair or she was black.

[00:04:36] We don't know.

[00:04:38] It's a name.

[00:04:39] It's just like my name.

[00:04:41] Brown Edwin Corrubias.

[00:04:43] Well, and I'm translucent white Michelle.

[00:04:47] OK, anyway, Black Agnes Douglas also didn't want to live a life of labor.

[00:04:53] So she was kind of against the system as well.

[00:04:55] So it's kind of like a marriage made in heaven pretty much.

[00:04:58] So the couple decided to remove themselves from society and go live in a sea

[00:05:04] cave called Brennan Cave off the coast.

[00:05:08] I don't know why a cave sounded appealing, but you know, like I think

[00:05:12] of like homesteaders or whatever, you know, early off gridders.

[00:05:17] Sounds cool.

[00:05:18] Like as a kid, I always wanted to do that.

[00:05:20] I think I told you I wanted to dig a cave and just live in it or find a

[00:05:24] cool natural spot and live in it.

[00:05:26] That'd be great.

[00:05:28] I mean, it makes sense.

[00:05:31] You know, Sonny Bean, in order to support his wife, he started

[00:05:35] ambushing and robbing people who were traveling on the roads,

[00:05:38] connecting the villages in the region.

[00:05:40] Such a good husband.

[00:05:43] To prevent being caught by the authorities, he started murdering his

[00:05:47] victims.

[00:05:48] But then he was like, what am I going to do with these bodies?

[00:05:52] Oh, no.

[00:05:53] And so of course, Sonny Bean took up cannibalism.

[00:05:58] This act not only got rid of the bodies, but it stopped the couple

[00:06:02] from having to make unnecessary trips back to town for provisions

[00:06:06] because the high protein diet seemed to really have a positive effect

[00:06:11] on Mrs. Bean and she began to produce little baby beans.

[00:06:18] 14 little baby beans in total.

[00:06:20] What?

[00:06:21] Each with a very unhealthy appetite for human flesh.

[00:06:25] OK, they just got real.

[00:06:27] Yeah.

[00:06:28] And then as the babies grew up and in turn through incest produced

[00:06:34] their own baby beans, the cooking pots increased in a dramatic

[00:06:39] size.

[00:06:40] Over two decades, generations of the beanie babies grew up in that

[00:06:45] cave, the Brennan Cave, refining their skills of murder and

[00:06:50] cannibal cuisine, including the now lost art of salting and

[00:06:54] pickling the flesh.

[00:06:55] Which I just thought that was a funny quote of like, yeah,

[00:07:00] I guess it's a lost art.

[00:07:01] People don't know how to pickle and salt their human flesh

[00:07:04] anymore.

[00:07:05] Bummer.

[00:07:06] The family of 45.

[00:07:08] So that's 45 fucking people.

[00:07:11] Ugh, sick.

[00:07:13] Would then murder the victims, eat until full and then pickle

[00:07:16] the remains in large barrels so the leftovers could be taken

[00:07:19] care of.

[00:07:20] They would then discard body parts like a foot here or a hand

[00:07:24] there and local waterways to make it look like animals were

[00:07:27] responsible for all the missing travelers, which isn't that

[00:07:32] just poisoning waterways?

[00:07:34] I mean, isn't that?

[00:07:35] I mean, I'm sure people are doing things now that are

[00:07:38] poisoning us in every way possible.

[00:07:41] But yeah, you're not wrong.

[00:07:44] You're not wrong.

[00:07:45] Even with all their precautions, people were starting

[00:07:48] to notice and the locals started making efforts to try

[00:07:51] and find out who the perpetrators were and bring them

[00:07:54] to justice.

[00:07:55] But the problem was the cave that the Bean family lived

[00:07:58] in was so well hidden and the mouth of the cave was

[00:08:01] actually during high tide, it would fill with water so

[00:08:06] you couldn't even see there was a cave entrance there.

[00:08:09] Oh, wow.

[00:08:10] So like twice a day, the mouth of the cave would be

[00:08:13] covered by water.

[00:08:14] So they would have to like swim out?

[00:08:16] No, they just wouldn't leave the cave when high tide

[00:08:19] was happening.

[00:08:20] Oh.

[00:08:22] Also what was even stranger is that because of the

[00:08:27] tide situation, the Beans only hunted at night.

[00:08:30] So they stayed in their cave in the daytime.

[00:08:33] And this is real.

[00:08:34] Well, we'll get to that.

[00:08:38] But anyway, the townspeople were at a loss and they

[00:08:41] didn't know what to do.

[00:08:42] They didn't even know that the Beans existed.

[00:08:44] It was just that these people were disappearing

[00:08:46] on the road.

[00:08:47] No one knew what was going on.

[00:08:48] Cut to Edwin, you and your beloved wife Shakira

[00:08:53] are returning from the fair.

[00:08:55] She's like, it's been a great day, but you

[00:09:00] stayed past sunset.

[00:09:01] Luckily, the horses know the way home and it's

[00:09:03] a beautiful night.

[00:09:05] Suddenly you hear, I'm going to try and do

[00:09:10] Scottish, OK?

[00:09:12] Get the Jesse bowl bag.

[00:09:15] Sounds really good.

[00:09:16] Thank you.

[00:09:17] Thank you.

[00:09:18] And Jesse means weak man.

[00:09:20] You are a weak man.

[00:09:22] Suddenly you're surrounded by large men with

[00:09:26] distorted features, large eyes and teeth that

[00:09:30] have been shaved into points.

[00:09:33] There is a red stain around their lips.

[00:09:36] You're hit with the smell of unwashed bodies

[00:09:38] and stale blood.

[00:09:40] Before you even have time to draw your pistol,

[00:09:43] they have pulled your wife down from her horse

[00:09:45] and disemboweled her.

[00:09:47] They are coming for you and you know you need

[00:09:52] to fight.

[00:09:54] You charge at them with your horse swinging

[00:09:56] your sword.

[00:09:57] I have a sword?

[00:09:58] You have a sword.

[00:10:00] And then another word, these bumboots weren't

[00:10:03] expecting a fight.

[00:10:05] I like it.

[00:10:08] Other people leaving the fair hear the commotion

[00:10:11] and run to your aid.

[00:10:13] You live, but your beautiful wife Shakira

[00:10:17] lays in a pile of her own guts dead in

[00:10:20] the grass.

[00:10:22] The beans escape, but now their existence

[00:10:25] is known.

[00:10:27] And after this event, the group, including

[00:10:30] you Edwin, traveled to Glasgow to report the

[00:10:32] attack and the murder to the local magistrate.

[00:10:35] And they brought this news to King James,

[00:10:37] the sixth, who at the time sat on the throne

[00:10:41] of the King of Scotland.

[00:10:43] King James was also so shocked by what he

[00:10:46] was hearing, he decided to take action

[00:10:48] himself.

[00:10:50] He along with 400 men with bloodhounds

[00:10:52] went to the site of the slaughter.

[00:10:54] The hounds quickly picked up the scent

[00:10:56] and found the hidden sea cave.

[00:10:58] The beans surrendered without a fight.

[00:11:01] When people entered the cave system,

[00:11:03] they were shocked by what they found.

[00:11:06] Inside the cave was complete filth.

[00:11:09] Body parts hung from the walls to dry

[00:11:12] while others were stored in jars and

[00:11:14] barrels to be pickled.

[00:11:16] The possessions of all the lost people

[00:11:19] were just dumped in piles around the

[00:11:21] cave.

[00:11:23] The family was placed in chains and

[00:11:25] then brought to the old toll booth jail

[00:11:27] at Edinburgh.

[00:11:31] It was decided that the family didn't

[00:11:33] deserve a trial due to their actions

[00:11:35] and they immediately decided to cut

[00:11:37] off the men's hands and feet and

[00:11:39] genitalia and let them bleed to death.

[00:11:41] And then they did that in front of

[00:11:43] the women so the women could watch.

[00:11:45] And then after the men died,

[00:11:47] they burnt all the women at the stake.

[00:11:49] That's brutal.

[00:11:51] I know.

[00:11:53] But also imagine walking into that

[00:11:55] cave system and seeing like,

[00:11:57] I mean, they were doing this for

[00:11:59] 20 years.

[00:12:01] I don't know why I'm sympathizing

[00:12:03] here, but like if you grow up

[00:12:05] in that environment and then you do

[00:12:07] that, is it really your fault?

[00:12:10] I mean, look, I understand that

[00:12:13] argument. I get it.

[00:12:15] But I don't think there was any

[00:12:17] rehabilitation happening.

[00:12:20] I don't know how I feel about

[00:12:22] that, but yeah, I get it.

[00:12:24] I mean, they did just disembowel

[00:12:26] your wife, so it's nice of you

[00:12:28] to have empathy.

[00:12:30] But anyway, with the women burning

[00:12:32] at the stake, that ended the

[00:12:33] time, and then they started

[00:12:37] the rebellion of terror.

[00:12:39] This story has been debated for

[00:12:41] years.

[00:12:43] Of course.

[00:12:45] Yes. OK, cool.

[00:12:47] Some people believe it's

[00:12:49] completely true even though there

[00:12:51] is a lack of documented evidence

[00:12:53] of the family's existence or even

[00:12:55] the trial and execution, which

[00:12:57] is kind of weird even though

[00:12:59] it was like the 1500s,

[00:13:01] there would probably be some sort

[00:13:03] of record of it.

[00:13:04] During this time in Scotland and England, the English press regularly portrayed people

[00:13:10] from Scotland in a negative light or having an evil nature.

[00:13:14] Experts believe that the story could have been political propaganda with the goal

[00:13:20] to make the Scottish appear uncivilized and backwards in comparison to the superior

[00:13:25] qualities of the British.

[00:13:27] And there's even speculation that Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Caruso,

[00:13:35] actually wrote the Sonny Bean story.

[00:13:37] I don't know.

[00:13:38] I thought that was kind of cool.

[00:13:40] It was like that was how in depth the propaganda could have been.

[00:13:43] I mean it's not impossible.

[00:13:45] I mean it seems like that kind of story honestly, like the kind of stuff he would

[00:13:49] write.

[00:13:50] Yeah.

[00:13:51] So The Hills Have Eyes would be a ripoff off of another story.

[00:13:54] Well here's the thing.

[00:13:55] So whether the tale is true or not, the Sonny Bean story, The Family, is now a cottage

[00:14:01] industry in Edinburgh.

[00:14:03] So there's all sorts of stuff.

[00:14:06] The Sonny Bean attraction in the Edinburgh jail is one of the most popular attractions,

[00:14:11] which they just have a room dedicated to it.

[00:14:14] So whether it's real or not.

[00:14:17] But the story caught the attention of Wes Craven who was inspired by an article

[00:14:23] he read about Sonny Bean while he was at the New York Library and transformed it into

[00:14:28] the story we know today.

[00:14:31] And then also it probably influenced the Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well.

[00:14:36] Yeah, similar themes.

[00:14:38] And that's the story behind The Hills Have Eyes.

[00:14:41] I won't watch it.

[00:14:43] It's just that it could be real.

[00:14:45] Like it could happen.

[00:14:46] Plus I used to really like traveling through the desert.

[00:14:49] And just not necessarily overland, overland.

[00:14:52] But I used to get on the suburban drive and then just kind of stop wherever, rest

[00:14:59] for a little bit, keep going.

[00:15:00] It was fun.

[00:15:01] It was cool.

[00:15:02] Yeah.

[00:15:03] And I always thought like what if I get stuck here?

[00:15:04] Like literally I haven't seen a car in like a while.

[00:15:07] I'm like huh.

[00:15:08] I mean I've been driving on that road out to Barstow between like Apple Valley

[00:15:14] and Barstow.

[00:15:16] And it's all those houses that just have like a pit bull and then some like 8,000 rusty

[00:15:21] cars.

[00:15:22] Uh huh.

[00:15:23] You can't not think about The Hills Have Eyes when you're like out there.

[00:15:28] It's like oh if my car broke down and I had to go walk to get help would I ever

[00:15:33] come back?

[00:15:34] Probably not.

[00:15:35] Nobody's going to hear you scream you're done.

[00:15:38] That's it.

[00:15:39] I like the desert but people move out to the desert to be alone.

[00:15:43] They do not want to be messed with.

[00:15:45] I like that.

[00:15:46] I didn't know any of that.

[00:15:47] Even the guy who came up with the movie, I had no idea.

[00:15:50] Never looked it up.

[00:15:51] I can't believe you didn't know Wes Craven.

[00:15:53] Bizarre.

[00:15:54] Bizarre.

[00:15:55] I think they have a second Hills Have Eyes movie.

[00:15:57] Yeah there was a more, there was a remaster.

[00:15:59] I remember it was like in theaters when we went down to the beach and that's

[00:16:03] why it was even a topic of conversation.

[00:16:08] It was like in theaters or something like that.

[00:16:11] Also that movie is really brutal.

[00:16:13] It's very, not even gory because I mean there's gore in it but it's not like, it's

[00:16:18] like really brutal death.

[00:16:20] No thanks.

[00:16:21] No thank you.

[00:16:23] If anybody's seen it the shotgun scene is what I have in my mind.

[00:16:27] I can see it.

[00:16:29] Be careful if you watch it because it's going to make you paranoid.

[00:16:34] Or you know you'll just get paranoid by the title of it like I did.

[00:16:40] I mean at least it's not like you know a hill with eyes on it.

[00:16:43] Why is that so funny?

[00:16:45] The idea and then like this hill just opens one eye at a time and it's like bloop.

[00:16:50] Like that's the whole movie like an hour and a half.

[00:16:56] Anyway Edwin what are we going to talk about next week?

[00:16:58] I don't know.

[00:17:00] I think it'll be a surprise.

[00:17:05] Scary Mystery Surprise is hosted by Michelle Newman and

[00:17:09] Edwin Cobarubias.

[00:17:11] This podcast was edited and sound designed by Sara Voorhiswendel of VW Sound.