Christopher Lee stars as "The Mummy," screening Aug. 20. 21 and 22 at the Gateway Film Center.

From the early 1930s by the mid-1950s, Common Shots solidified its status as Hollywood’s major manufacturing unit for horror with a collection of a lot-lauded, black-and-white monster videos, including “Dracula” with Bela Lugosi and “Frankenstein” with Boris Karloff.

Then, toward the tail end of Universal’s heyday, a new child on the horror block emerged — one with a distinctively British accent. 

In 1957, London-primarily based Hammer Movies Productions started churning out its possess sequence of horror films. Several showcased the identical established of famous people as the previously Common movies, but Hammer’s technique was bold, bloody and brash — and boasted opulent color photography to boot.

Horror aficionados have prolonged debated which studios’ releases are much more hair-raising.

“I do not assume you have to pick out,” stated Chris Hamel, president of the Gateway Film Centre, which, starting up Sunday, will current a monthlong, 12-film series celebrating Hammer Movies.