I haven't seen Assault on Precinct 13 but judging by reports it should fit your category of beautifully done genre movies. Jonathan Rosenbaum calls it "A must-see" and prefers it to Carpenter's original for its pungent social and political commentary, says it's not quite as suspenseful as Carpenter's but that's because of its greater complexity. Clearly it's not unimportant that the director is French.