Gosh, I have a hard time deciding whether I like Cabal (the book) or Nightbreed (the movie) better.
I decided to read the book and watch the movie in the same week... 'cause this is my life now.

There are things I love in each.
I adore movie Narcisse (I love book Narcisse too, but he's such an adorable little creep in the movies).
Also the movie gave Ohnaka a more prominent role, and made him freaking adorable!
Not to mention Shuna Sassi!

However, the movie cuts out a lot of the content from the book that makes the story come off a bit choppy. Particularly the parts with Ashberry. I know its hard to include some of the more introspective moments that the characters have in the book, but most of Ashberry's stuff got cut in the movie.

I appreciate that they shortened the prison scene, but I wish they had left more of Lori and Boone's dialogue in there.

The big problem in the movie is Lori.
Honestly, I wish they had put more emphasis on Boone's frailty, so that Lori's strength could really shine. In the book it's pretty much just her (and to a lesser extent Narcisse) keeping Boone going. We spend several chapters with her and see her come out alive in a fight against Button Face- in the movie she is the typical running scared slasher victim.
In the book she goes through the process of being repelled by the Nightbreed (though they are pretty accepting of her when she first goes through the catacombs) to accepting them and seeing that the real monsters are folks like Eigerman and Decker. In the movies it's not really addressed... she kind of seems to be afraid of them at first, but she comes around super quick like she was never even fazed. Ultimately it was the love she had for Boone and the connection she shared with Babette that makes her accept the situation.

Of course, the movie is still enjoyable, there are a lot of great things added. However I totally recommend the book for some deeper character development.