The McKenzies

The McKenzie Residence is home to the unseen McKenzie family, a fictional residence in Woodsboro, California. It was the closest neighboring home to the Becker Residence.

During the September 1996 Woodsboro Murders, serial killers, Billy Loomis and accomplice killer, Stu Macher targeted two teenage victims at their neighboring household. This occurs in the opening scene of the original Scream (1996) film. The location itself and its residents, unseen, are mentioned in the opening sequence by Mr. Becker.

It later received a subtle nod through the surname of a main character in the franchise relaunch film, Scream (2022), 18-year-old, Liv McKenzie. This character appears in the fifth entry into the film franchise.

Scream films
The McKenzies are the first family unrelated to the Beckers (consisting of Casey Becker, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Becker), mentioned in the overall Scream franchise.

No direct McKenzie family member is mentioned again or seen until the fifth film character, Liv McKenzie, though her relation to the neighboring characters of the Beckers is undefined in her filmic appearance. It is reduced to a film credit Easter egg, similar to the roles of Dr. Orth and Mr. Baker in Scream 4 (2011).

In the scene where they are mentioned, a panicking, concerned father, Mr. Becker urges his wife to get in the car, and drive to their house. Mrs. Becker is unable to after discovering her daughter's hanging corpse on their nearby tree.

Aftermath of Scream
The McKenzies welcomed a daughter, Liv McKenzie seven years later, around late 2003.

Halloween connection
The reference to the McKenzies is a nod to Halloween (1978) where Laurie Strode (portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis) asks Tommy Doyle and Lindsey Wallace to go down the street to the McKenzies. Scream 1, 2 and 4 writer, Kevin Williamson, whose favorite film is Halloween, wanted to tie the original Scream film back to Halloween.

This pattern continued with Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), which Kevin Williamson also co-wrote, where Laurie tells her son, John Tate and his girlfriend, Molly Cartwell to drive "down to the Beckers".

Trivia

 * Each new teen character has a connection to the original Scream film. In Liv's case, she is an Easter egg homage to her late neighbor, Casey Becker (portrayed by Drew Barrymore), having a very similar life story to the character in their respective films:
 * Similar to Casey who dated then dumped Stu Macher, Liv dated then dumped Vince (Stu's nephew), Leslie Macher's son.
 * After dumping a Macher family member, they both dated a jock/football player (Steven Orth/Chad Meeks-Martin).
 * Prior to their murders, they were distraught after finding their football player boyfriends attacked and (seemingly) killed by Ghostface.
 * As a result of their deaths, both a teenage daughter of the neighboring McKenzie and Becker families were murdered 25 years apart, by the same Ghostface persona (almost the exact same day, two days apart. A reporter also notes Billy Loomis' death anniversary, as "almost to the day".)
 * Liv's fate is a plot inverse to Casey: she is the final on-screen target/victim of a Ghostface in her respective killing spree, while Casey is the very first target on-screen in her respective killing spree (and the overall franchise). (Casey is the second murder victim overall, however after Steve).