“Touch of Evil,” written and directed by Orson Welles. Based on the novel “Badge of Evil,” by Whit Masterson. Running Time: 100 minutes. No rating. Nightly, Nov. 16-19, Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville.

At the heart of Orson Welles’ great noir film, “Touch of Evil,” is an unwieldy, labyrinthine plot about crime and corruption that can be an absolute bear to follow. Make the effort.

The film’s plot — a veritable knot of confusion — is actually an artistic triumph that succeeds in mirroring a confusing time. The rushed, overlapping dialogue, the unflinching close-ups and the choppy editing are all intentional as Welles wanted audiences to feel as caught up in the confusion as his characters.

Still, the film was never quite as Welles envisioned it. After seeing the original cut in 1958, the director, notorious for entrusting the editing of his films to others, fired off a 58-page memo demanding certain changes be made. Though several incarnations of the film have appeared over the years, none has been cut to reflect that memo.

None, of course, until now.

Under the supervision of Walter Murch, archivists have restored “Touch of Evil” to the director’s specifications. The result? A newly released, re-edited version that features nearly 50 changes — from the subtle to the sublime.

The most notable change is in the film’s famous opening, a single, three-minute-20-second tracking shot that follows a car moving through Mexico with a bomb ticking in its trunk. Free now of the credits that once cluttered it, the unedited shot — which inspired the opening shots of Brian De Palma’s “Snake Eyes” and Robert Altman’s “The Player” — allows sudden, seamless entry into a film that practically growls with corruption.

Indeed, “Touch of Evil” boils thick with noir. It finds Welles himself in top form as Hank Quinlan, a dirty, menacing, cigar-chomping sheriff who intimidates those around him with the weight of his massive belly and the glare in his mean-looking eyes, and who is not above framing an innocent man to bring quick closure to a case.

But on this particular case, Quinlan has been pitted against Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston), a Mexican drug enforcement agent unwittingly drawn into the investigation when the car bomb explodes near him and his feisty wife, Susan (Janet Leigh). As the two men go head to head in what amounts to moral combat, Susan gets rolled in a hotel room, Marlene Deitrich appears in cameo as a quotable, fortune-telling madam, and Vargas reveals himself to be the worthy opponent Quinlan has always feared.

In Welles’ capable hands, noir has never been quite so affecting, sinister or brilliant. The real crime here would be missing this visually stunning, exhausting masterpiece during its fleeting appearance in theaters.

Grade: A

Video of the Week “The Butcher Boy,” directed by Neil Jordan. Written Written by Jordan and Patrick McCabe. Based on the novel by McCabe. Running time: 105 minutes. Rated R (for language and violence).

No matter how many ways you slice it or dice it, chop it or fillet it, Neil Jordan’s “The Butcher Boy” cuts a fine line between farce and terror.

The film, which is set in 1960s Ireland, follows the fall of Francie Brady (the astonishing Eamonn Owens), a 12-year-old boy whose harmless pranks become increasingly violent in the face of his chaotic home life. Mischievous, brazen and rambunctious, Francie reacts to life with his alcoholic father (Stephen Rea) and suicidal mother (Aisling O’Sullivan) with a veil of devilish good humor that eventually exposes itself to be nothing more than painful desperation giving way to inevitable, hallucinatory madness.

Mirroring other films directed by Jordan, “The Butcher Boy” has a tenuous hold on reality. As the pressures of the outside world push down on Francie, Jordan pushes back by forcing fantasy into his film’s reality. The result finds Sinead O’Connor — yes, she — appearing as a coquettish Virgin Mary who arrives too late to give Francie the guidance he needs.

The characters can be difficult to understand (all speak in the deep accents of County Monaghan), but this bizarre, riotous film is nevertheless worth the effort.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear each Monday in the NEWS. Each Thursday on WLBZ’s “News Center 5:30 Today,” he reviews what’s new and worth renting in video stores.