Alpha Dog and Caliente Tropics

just watched a Nick Cassavetes movie called alpha dog. it's a good movie but it's kind've depressing (again Nick Cassavetes). anyway, it's based on a true story about those kids who kidnapped a 15 yo brother of another kid who owed them money (for drugs). if you know the story, you know the ending. if not, the movie has a large part filmed at the caliente tropics. stop reading now and check it out...
well it looks like they take the 15yo to the caliente to hold him (more like party with him) a few days, then later take him to the mountains in palm springs and shoot him. this may be old news to some of you, but it was new to me. does anyone know more about the caliente part of the story. the story itself was big news and the fact that they just caught the last killer last year was news, i just never knew the tiki connection.
anyway, it's a good movie with alot of interior and exterior shots of the caliente. i myself had never seen the inside of the rooms.. very cool :D

aaron

I recognized the hotel from the movie too. If memory serves, the actual events happened in Santa Barbara tho, not Palm Springs, so the connection is only in the staging for the film.