In Teshie near Accra, artist Heavy J dipped a brush into red oil paint and carefully applied it to a flour sack canvas, adding blood to a knife held by a man.
Above, he had begun sketching a skull. The poster was for the animated fairytale The Little Mermaid.
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The man was Prince Eric, not a killer, and the skull had no connection to the story.
"We add more to make people interested," Heavy J said.
From the late 1970s to early 2000s, hand-painted film posters by local artists were a hallmark of Ghanaian film culture.
They advertised screenings at neighborhood video clubs after organizers found original posters failed to attract audiences.
Plot lines were mere starting points for humorous and surreal interpretations. Artists from different video clubs competed to create the best "forgery," as they called their work.
The practice declined around 2000 as more Ghanaians got electricity and their own TVs and video players. Many video clubs closed, and painters shifted to other work.
But the posters had gained global interest through books and exhibitions, turning old and rare pieces into prized collectibles.
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Interest in newly painted posters waned in the early 2000s but has since risen, driven by online marketing and a receptive Western audience of film lovers.
Deadly Prey Gallery, named after an action film, was co-founded in 2012 by Robert Kofi and Brian Chankin.
