Someone said Argento's weakness is his scripting, and ear for dialogue, which I agree with - style and gore-wise he is usually very interesting.

I'm not sure if working with 'better' or English-speaking actors more often would improve some of his films.

the expectations for a gigantic budget argento would be such that it would never live up to them. i just want more quality english speaking actors and less corn syrup. i love his work, i just think there are obvious easily amended flaws.

He did write Once Upon a Time in the West but that was under the guidance of Bernardo Bertoluci. His writing and the way he directs his actors drives me nutz.

It's almost as if he asks his actors to only play the surface-level, to hide any and all emotion other than fear or desire.

I agree. I like his films greatly, but they have their flaws. Most often in the writing. The concepts are good, the endings are great, but there's always something missing... That being said, I am a fan...

Imagine if Suspiria had a bit better dialogue and character development to help it through the middle.

I have kind of always accepted the bad acting as a part of the 60s/70s giallo style. To me, it's just as much a part of Argento's edge as his red-orange blood and his radical (preferably Goblin) music. I just kind of accept it and, in a way, take comfort in the horrible dialogue these macabre time pieces contain.

But yeah, I agree; I think, visually, Argento is one of the most unique and creative filmmakers to come out of Italian cinema, and I happen to love most everything he's done. In fact, Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) is one of my favorite movies of all time. It just bleeds (sometimes quite literally) with creepy style and genuine fright, and has a little mix of classic detective noir.