During the filming of
Poltergeist III: O Capítulo Final (1988), she was doing a photo shoot when she paused and lurched. Director
Gary Sherman was present and asked her what was wrong, she responded with a comment like "I don't know, was just a jolt. I'm fine." Several minutes later Sherman was pulled aside and told they would have to let Rubenstein go from the film - her mother had just died. After developing the film from the photo shoot, it was discovered that every photo had come out fine, except one, which had an inexplicable cloud of light clouding into the photo from Rubenstein's left, covering half of her with a semi-transparent haze. Rubenstein said she knew the jolt had to have been her mother's passing - she said they always had a particularly strong bond, in a way some identical twins have. Sherman, who had witnessed it, agrees it could not have been anything else. Both Rubenstein and Sherman were already very well aware of the tragic events which had plagued the film series.